Through My Eyes
by I Chrys I
Summary: The best thing I could have done was leave. Now I'm left wondering if I've even made the right choices. Only time will tell and I'm not even sure I want to know what the future has in store for me... and everyone else. Lavi/OC, Lavi/Lena, Allen/ Lena
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer- **_I do not own D. Gray-Man or any of the characters from the series and with never claim them as my own._

* * *

Why was I even here in the first place? It was Monica's job to man the counter and I was supposed to be the one going around cleaning and whatnot. How did we end up switching positions? Or was she off goofing around again? Well, it didn't really matter because it seems that nobody has been to our inn for a long while, long even to drive me batty just standing here.

I could be off doing something fun with Vincent or Cathy, but I was stuck here. Stuck where there was nothing to do and no one to talk to. I've really never enjoyed working here, but my parents were so insistent on having Monica and I work here. But that was what, three or four years ago? I don't really remember.

And it seems that I was so lost in thought that I nearly leapt out of my skin when the bell on the front entrance announced that visitors had arrived. I straightened up as quickly as I could in an attempt to not make it appear as though I was slacking off on the job. Much to my surprise, a group of four had stepped inside. Each of which was good looking in their own way, but my attention was on the redhead that had stepped inside first. I've always liked red hair, but that may have been a personal bias because my hair was red.

"Hey there, beautiful." The man said, smiling at me slightly. "Can I get two rooms?"

His words made me jump slightly. This was partly because I'd managed to lose focus yet again and partly because I hadn't expected to be called "beautiful". And what was he doing leaning on the counter like that? I could feel my face heating up slightly and I hoped I wasn't as red as I thought I was.

"I wouldn't feel right letting a pretty young lady sleep in the same room as a guy." I said slowly, looking over at the only female in the group. "I give you three rooms, no extra charge. You can decide who sleeps where as long as she gets a separate room."

I was surprised again when the lady that was traveling with him came up to the counter and shoved him back a bit. I can't say that I wasn't relieved when she did that because I knew my face must have been redder than my hair by now. I smiled at her and handed over the keys to the rooms. She took them and smiled back.

"My sister usually cooks food for our guests," I said suddenly before they could go anywhere. "So we'll let you know when it's ready if you're not out."

"Thank you." The lady said before turning to her companions.

The red haired man looked back at me and said something about 'seeing me later' before he was shoved up the stairs. I quickly turned toward the mirror one the wall to my right to see just how red my face was, as it still felt hot enough to fry an egg or too. It was just as I feared; I was bright red. I also realized that my hair was messier than I thought it was, so I brushed my fingers through it rather quickly to fix it up a bit. I knew I should have pulled it back when I brushed it this morning.

I slowly brought my arms to my chest before sighing at what a wreck I was. I brought my hand just under my eye and stared at the color. Time seemed to have escaped me because I'd honestly forgotten the last time I looked in a mirror and saw the blue eyes that I was born with rather than the color they were now. The outer edge was a purplish color, but it faded as the color moved in told my pupil. As the purple faded away, it began to show nothing more than the tiniest hint of blue.

With these eyes came nothing more than a bunch of visions I wished were nothing more than my mind screwing with me, but I wasn't that fortunate. My entire family wasn't that fortunate, what with my mom losing her mind and running off after my father died. Monica was older enough to take care of the both of us then, being that she was almost twenty at the time. I can't even count the times that I've thanked the heavens that I had a sister like her.

"Slacking off again, I see."

I spun around quickly to see Monica standing there, her arms crossed like she was upset with me, but the look on her face said otherwise. She had that same old gentle expression that I honestly couldn't see her without. I'd often thought she was too kind for her own good, but she just smiled and ruffled my hair whenever I told her so. She was a good role model, I suppose, and I really truly did look up to her and adored her. That must sound silly, though, considering siblings don't seem to get along very well.

Not that Monica and I didn't fight or anything because we've certainly been in a few scraps here and there. It's just… she wasn't someone you wanted to fight with because she was quick to end them in a peaceful manner. It's grated my nerves on several occasions, which is why I tried my best not to butt heads with her.

"I'm not slacking off!" I shouted, forgetting I had no need to be so loud. "I'll have you know I just checked in four people."

"I'm only messing with you, silly." Monica replied, chuckling a little bit. "I do need you to go get some things for me really quickly, though. It seems I don't have everything I need to make dinner tonight."

"Oh, sure." I replied. "You aren't going to make me remember everything you want this time, are you?"

She only laughed at me before pulling a folded list out of her apron and handing it to me. Before I knew it, she'd shoved me out the door to be on my merry little way. I know I said she was nice, but she was also very forceful at times when she really didn't want to do something. I was pretty much her errand girl most of the time and it was hard to say 'no' to her because she had this little pout that she did. She's very manipulative and I think she knows it.

So, I spent a good hour or two roaming around trying to find everything Monica wanted. I think she added some things to this list that she really didn't need, but she did ask for strawberries. Strawberries make everything better because she makes a darn good cake whenever she buys them. But she doesn't buy them very often because of how expensive they are. I just figured she was in a really good mood.

* * *

It was getting late by the time I finally got home. The look on my sister's face was the last thing I wanted to see when I walked in the door. And I didn't exactly enjoy the big hug she gave me afterwords. I tried to stop her because of everything in my hands, but she didn't listen and hugged me anyway.

"What took you so long?" She asked, finally releasing me from her grip.

I had honestly feared that she'd crushed something and was afraid that she'd just huff at me and make me go back outside and buy a bunch of stuff again. Nah, she wouldn't do something like that. It was almost dark out and I think she'd panic too much if she did.

"Next time," I paused and laughed nervously. "Please make a shorter list, okay?"

And, with that, she nodded and hurried me back into the kitchen so we could start cooking. It didn't take as long as I thought it would and, before I knew it, Monica hurried off to go get our guests for dinner. She left me alone to set everything up, though, and I wasn't even finished by the time she got back, followed by the group of four that had checked in earlier. I was surprised that they were the only ones here at the moment, but I guess no one was looking for an inn to stay at. It really didn't bother me because I didn't like having too many people here at once.

Introductions were given and I found out that the red haired man from before was named Lavi, the pretty girl that was with them was named Lenalee, and the other two were Allen and Kanda. The one named Allen had really odd a colored hair, being that it was gray or silver or something, and he seemed to have a really big appetite, as well. Though I couldn't blame him for that; I couldn't help eating a lot, either.

"You're like a mouse."

I turned my head toward Lavi, who'd sat down beside me just moments before. Monica was on my other side, sitting at the end of the table and in front of me was that Lenalee girl. Beside her sat Allen and that grumpy looking Kanda guy was at the other end right next to him.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, leaning toward Monica a bit as I felt my face growing hot again.

"You're really quiet and shy." He said with a smile. "It's kinda cute."

I stumbled to my feet upon hearing that and hurried out of the room. I can take a compliment, but he was very obviously flirting with me and I was really embarrassed. I heard Monica laughing and saying something to him before I heard a chair scraping against the floor. I felt something knot up in my chest as I heard footsteps getting closer, but I didn't turn to see who it was. Luckily, it was only Monica.

"You shouldn't get so scared like that, Julia." She said. "I think he'll flirt with any girl that crosses his path. He just seems like that type of guy."

Those words did nothing to call my nerves because I felt more insulted by them. I know she was trying her best to cheer me up, but that wasn't the best way to do so. Guys like that really ticked me off. I can't believe how easily it is for people like him to move on from one person to another. It seemed, then, that I'd gone from really embarrassed to really annoyed.

Monica frowned at me before patting me on the head. I couldn't stay upset with the look she was giving me. Golly, I swear this woman could calm a room full of rampaging children! But I suppose that's what I really looked up to in her. I grumbled as she placed her hand on my shoulder and lead me back in the room to eat.

She promised me cake later, so I'd just have to move to another table and deal with it. It honestly wasn't as easy as that, though, because I could feel eyes on my back every-so-often. Or maybe that was just me getting really paranoid for no reason. Monica moved over to sit next to me and the two of us said nothing to each other the rest of the time. It probably would have been really quiet if it weren't for the laughing and conversations going on behind us.

I didn't mind. I didn't need friends like that anyway. Or was that me just trying to convince myself that I had no need for any friends than the ones that I had now? How silly of me that I would do such a thing, but befriending travelers wouldn't end well. Eventually they would leave, though there was the chance of getting letters.

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**A/N-** _ Hope you like my story so far, though.I apologize for those of you who hate first peron. I just felt like doing something other than third at the moment.  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer- **_I do not own D. Gray-Man or any of the characters from the series and with never claim them as my own._

* * *

I hadn't realized the amount of sleep that I _didn't_ get last night until I woke up this morning. I sat up and let out a squeaky yawn before turning my head toward my dresser. I rubbed my eyes lazily as I threw the covers off and headed over to get clothes out for today. Hopefully we didn't get anymore guests in the night or Monica would have lost sleep, too. I liked it better when she got more sleep because she was always so cheerful that way.

I stared blankly at the mess of clothes I'd left on the floor and realized that it was due time that I did my laundry, but that could wait. I searched all over for a clean outfit and slipped it on before quickly running a brush through my hair and making my way down to the kitchen. Monica was standing at the entrance with a very confused look on her face. She looked at me when I walked up to her. I hadn't smelled breakfast, so I guessed she hadn't gotten started on anything yet.

"I'm out of coffee." She said suddenly. "I swore I'd written that down on the list yesterday. Did you forget to buy some?"

"I guess so." I answered, turning to look at the door. "I'll go get some really quickly, then."

"No, no." She said, waving me off. "I'll be fine without it. Let's just get breakfast started. I wouldn't want our guests to wake up hungry."

* * *

Breakfast ended quickly and Monica rushed me off to do dishes. I spent more time playing in the soapy water than I did actually washing dishes at first until I was caught and told to stop goofing off. It was kind of silly messing around in soapy water when I could get the dishes done and go do something. But, by the time I was done, I didn't even remember what I wanted to do anymore and wandered off into the dinning room to collapse into one of the chairs and lay my head down on the table. I figured I might as well take a nap while I had some time off.

"Sleeping on the job?"

I slowly shifted my head to see who was talking to me and wasn't pleased by what I saw. Lavi had settled down beside me and seemed rather intent on staring at me. I groaned before sitting up and stretching. There were no words to even begin to describe the kind of dislike I had for this guy. He'd done nothing but bother Monica and I since he came to stay and Monica didn't even seem bothered by it. In fact, she acted all silly and stuff when he complimented her.

"So what if I am." I mumbled.

I stood up and pushed my chair in before walking out of the room, feeling his eyes on my back as I left. I needed to go out for a walk and get some fresh air. It might help me wake up a little more, though I could have gone for a little bit of coffee, as well. With that in mind, I went to my room to grab some money before heading out. There was a café nearby that I could go to and it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and go buy some coffee while I was out.

That would make Monica smile and it'd give the both of us something to get us up and going in the morning. I nearly bumped into Lenalee as I was heading out the door. She smiled and waved at me and I returned the gesture before hurrying off on my merry little way. I was really looking forward to that cup of coffee and I certainly wasn't going to waste anytime getting to it.

"Julia!"

I jerked around to see who'd called my name. A pretty little blonde haired girl was bounding up to me with a big smile on her face. That was the same old Cathy I was used to. She and I had been friends for as long as I could remember and we hung out a lot when I got a free day to do whatever. Today was one such day, but I hadn't told her that yet.

My attention moved to what she was holding in her arms, though. It was a cute little white rabbit with a brown spot that covered its left ear and eye. I remembered Cathy telling me something about her rabbit having babies sometime ago, so I guessed this was one of them. She'd sworn up and down she'd give me the cutest one in the litter once they were old enough to be given away. No doubt this was what was about to happen.

I'd always wanted a pet, but I figured it'd be something like a small dog or a cat; not a rabbit. I didn't mind either way because they were all really cute in the end. I would just have to find some place to keep it or it'd hop away on me. I smiled at her when she finally caught up to me and she looked down at the rabbit as if to tell me to look at how cute it was. That was what she was going to tell me, anyway.

"Isn't she just the cutest thing you've ever seen?" She asked. "Vincent has been in a grouchy mood lately because I haven't wanted him to sell all the little bunnies. I snuck this one away while he wasn't looking."

"You're gonna get in trouble." I laughed. "Are you sure you won't get yelled at when he finds out that you gave one away for free?"

"Not if I tell him I gave her to you." She smiled. "Besides, you could always for her later if you really had to."

I smiled back at her. Cathy really was a very silly girl and she seemed to like doing things that got her in trouble with Vincent. She never really did anything too bad because she didn't want to get into so much trouble that she had to do a bunch of chores to make up for it, though. This might have counted for something like that, but I planned on paying them for the rabbit later anyway.

"Take her!" Cathy said, shoving the rabbit toward me. "I need to get home before I get found out."

I reached for the rabbit only to freeze up the moment my hand touched Cathy's. My eyes grew wide and it seemed like time slowed down as gray scene played out in my head. Cathy had been smiling one moment and the next she was being thrown out of the way by some large monster. I didn't move as it came closer to my face. It was going to—

"Julia!" Cathy said as she snapped her fingers in my face.

I stared at her for a split second before grabbing her arm and pulling the both of us onto the ground. There was a loud 'whooshing' sound as a large hand caught the air, just barely missing hitting the blonde girl I was now holding onto. It stared down at us before hissing something that I could barely make out. I almost didn't want to move, but I knew Cathy and I would be killed if we just laid there. The monster lifted its giant hand in the air again and looked like it was getting ready to crush us.

I threw Cathy off myself and to the side in hopes that she'd roll until she was out of the way and threw my arms over my head as the hand came crashing down toward me. I squeezed my eyes shut and honestly expected to be crushed in a matter of seconds, but nothing happened. I heard someone hiss as their foot shifted in the dirt beside my head. I couldn't believe what had just happened, especially considering I'd managed to get Cathy out of the way before she got hit. And then I remembered I'd shoved her out of the way.

"Move!" The person standing over me grunted.

I scrambled out of the way as quickly as I could only to trip over Cathy. I grabbed her arm and dragged her to her feet before I began to run. She resisted, much to my surprise, and I whirled around to face her. She looked more scared than I'd ever seen her before, but what really had her so freaked out was the rabbit.

"Forget the rabbit, Cathy!" I screamed. "Just run!"

I didn't think I'd ever forget the look on her face after I said that, but it gave me the chance to drag her off with me. The ground rumbled under our feet as the monster finally slammed its giant fist against it. I looked over my shoulder only to see it charging for the two of us. Where'd that guy go who was holding it back before? At this rate, we were going to get mowed down by the thing and I really didn't like that. I really needed to think of something and fast.

In the vision, it threw Cathy out of the way to get to me, right? If I threw her off to the side somehow and kept running maybe it'd keep chasing me and she's only get off with a few scrapes and bruises. I inhaled sharply before yanking her beside me and shoving her as hard as I could off to the side. I saw her go crashing into one of the shops before I realized that I'd lost my own balance as I was pushing her. I felt an arm lock around my waist before I heard a voice yelling in my ear right as the large beast made another attempt to crush me.

I squeezed my eyes shut again, fearing for the worst a second time, and was shocked again when the only thing I felt was wind blowing in my face. I was too afraid to open my eyes and see what had just happened for fear of seeing something far worse than what I'd pictured earlier. I heard a sigh before I remembered that someone had grabbed me just moments ago. I felt really numb and weak all of a sudden and heard someone say 'hold on' before there was moving again. After that, everything just started going completely blank.

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**A/N:**_ I removed the first chapter two because a friend had told me that I had several typos. I went back to see just how badly I'd messed up and realized that I needed to fix a few things. There are reasons why you don't write at 6 in the morning after getting no , hope you've enjoyed the story so far.  
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	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer- **_I do not own D. Gray-Man or any of the characters from the series and with never claim them as my own._

* * *

"—lia!"

Sound flooded into my ears suddenly and I couldn't even recall where I was at the moment. Was I lying against someone? It felt really warm and soft, but my entire body felt really heavy for some reason.

"—hear me?"

Who was talking to me? I wanted to yell at who ever it was to leave me alone. I didn't want to get up right now. I didn't want to move or open my eyes at all.

"—Julia!"

Who the hell was calling my name? I didn't want to move, didn't they understand that? I didn't want to get up just yet. I hurt too much and I was too tired.

"Miss Julia," The voice persisted. "Can you hear me?"

Of course I can here you? Why are you asking me that? Why won't you leave me alone? I don't want to get up. Leave me alone.

There was something patting my cheek. That wasn't happening before, was it? I wanted it to stop. I didn't want to be woken up yet. I didn't want to be bothered.

"Answer me." The voice said "Do something."

"L-Leave…" I tried to say, but the rest of the words got caught in my throat.

That one little word I'd managed to say caused whoever was bothering me to gasp, though. They still didn't stop trying to get me up, though. What was so important that I had to wake up right now anyway? Did something happen that I couldn't remember? What happened?

Why did I feel like someone had slammed me into a brick wall? I had a splitting headache and my lungs felt like they were on fire, as if I'd been running for too long. My entire body was heavy and I just felt like I deserved one more minute of peace. Why wouldn't this person give me that minute alone?

I snapped my eyes open in a flash when I remembered what had happened who knows how long ago. I'd nearly been killed just now and so had Cathy. Where was Cathy? Was she alright? I threw her into a building, but that was the last thing I remembered doing before I blacked out.

My eyes tried to focus on whoever was holding me. Did I know anyone with long black hair? Wasn't there a guest staying at our inn with hair like that? No, there were two. One was a male, but this was a female. Ah, what was her name?

"You're awake!" She gasped.

I stared up at her before closing my eyes again. I wanted to go back to sleep. Augh, but my head was hurting too much. Why was I still thinking about myself? Where the hell was Cathy?

"W-Where's…" I began, opening my eyes yet again. "Ca… Cathy?"

Ah! Lenalee was her name! Lenalee stared at me before looking up at someone I couldn't see. I found myself wanting to close my eyes again as no one answered my question. It's not like I was asking some really hard Math problem or something. I just wanted to know where my friend was.

"Your friend is alright." A male voice said from somewhere off to my left. "She rammed into a door and got a little bruised up, but that's all."

That was that grumpy guy talking, wasn't it? He always sounded really mean and looked just the same. What was his problem anyway? But at least Cathy was alright. That just left one more question.

What had happened to me? I remember looking over my shoulder as I started falling toward the ground. That monster was charging at me ready to kill and then I don't know what happened. There was shouting or something and I felt like I was being picked up, but the rest was too fuzzy.

Was it just me, or was the whole sky starting to spin? I closed my eyes for the third time, but found that it was very difficult to get them to open again. All this on top of barely getting any sleep left me completely drained. I could ask questions later. For the moment, I was finding it very difficult to even keep myself awake.

"We should take her home." Another male voice said. "Her sister will probably…"

* * *

"You're sure she's going to be alright?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Thank you for bringing her back."

"No problem."

I moaned as I rolled over to try and figure out who was talking. The door to my room was cracked and I swore up and down that it was Monica talking to one of those guys we checked in. I was too dazed to really put a finger on which it was without them standing right in front of me, so I just gave up and flipped onto my back. I had to ask those guys what happened before later, though. I wasn't about to let any of them leave without an explanation.

After a minute or so of hearing Monica chatter away, I started getting a little restless. I could barely hear her now because the conversation seemed to turn hush-hush half-way through. I heard something about a rabbit and Cathy was mentioned a few times, but that was about all. The rest of it was too quite for me to hear.

"_Monica_…!" I whined.

She stopped talking and I heard the door start to creak open. I rolled back over to face it and saw her standing there with that weird little gray-haired kid. I think his name was Allen, or something. They both looked at me as I sat up. I stared back at them before rubbing my eyes.

Before I knew it, Monica was hugging me tightly against her. She started blabbering on and on about how happy she was that I was alright, but she never said anything about that monster that had attacked me. I would have thought she would have considering it was so huge and everyone was screaming and it was just plain chaos. I looked up at Allen then, who was still standing in the doorway. I hadn't really intended to take my eyes off him for even one second, but Monica grabbed my face and forced me to look at her. I frowned at her and jerked my head back to get her to let me go. She did.

"Look, I'm fine." I said, looking back over at Allen. "I just… I don't know what happened, but I'm fine."

Monica didn't like that answer and responded with a pout. I didn't look back at her, which seemed to upset her even more. She stood up in a huff and left the room. Allen looked as if he was about to turn and leave, too. I wasn't going to have that.

"Hold it!" I snapped, throwing my feet off the bed. "You aren't going anywhere yet. You owe me an explanation. What was that thing?"

There was a long pause in which the two of us stood there saying nothing. Allen sighed suddenly before looking past me and out the window. I was starting to get a little annoyed by him not answering me right away. He wasn't going to just stand there and ignore me was he?

"What you saw was a weapon called Akuma." He said, turning his attention to me again.

"Akuma?" I asked.

There was a pause in which Allen didn't respond. I wasn't sure whether he just planned to leave everything at that or explain any further. Was this how these people always were? Was he trying to avoid my questions? I had a right to know everything, didn't I?

"Akuma are living weapons with a soul inside." He continued. "They are created with a machine, a soul, and despair. It is controlled by its creator, the millennium earl. Humans have a dark side to their hearts; it spreads and deepens their despair when a loved one dies. This causes the creator to come and give birth to an akuma. Once anguished by sin, despaired by their appearance, with a hatred of reality. It is the pain of the akuma's soul that produces the energy for it to evolve.'

"It gets experience by killing, and evolves as it kills. Someone's soul was in the machine, a soul that was called back by a loved one. That's why we destroy them. We are called exorcists; we are members of an anti-akuma group that consists of holy priests. We are those chosen by God. We exist to vanquish those who come forth form the darkness.'

"Exorcists use the innocence to process weapons that are anti-demonic. We then use the weapons to fight against the Millennium Earl in hoping to stop him before he puts an end to our world."

I sat back down on my bed and stared up at Allen, who had turned his attention to the window again. I wasn't sure what to say, really. That was a lot to take in at once, sort of. I mean, he'd explained to me most of what I wanted to know, but why were Cathy and I attacked. That was something worth knowing, wasn't it?

"W-Why did that thing attack Cathy and me, then?" I asked, catching Allen's attention again.

* * *

**A/N: **_Removed the chapter to add something on to it. My friend wrote Allen's description of the Akuma and what-not because I couldn't do it myself. Hoped you liked the story so far. Sorry if it seems a little choppy, though.  
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	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer- **_I do not own D. Gray-Man or any of the characters from the series and with never claim them as my own._

* * *

"You might be an accommodator for innocence."

I didn't tear my gaze from Allen once. I was confused, to say the least. Who wouldn't be if some random group of travelers came to stay at your inn and later one of them came to you and started telling you things that sounded like some sort of gruesome fairytale? Well, I couldn't say this was like some fairytale just yet, though it certainly wasn't normal. I really wasn't sure exactly how I should respond to all this, but I'm sure that just pretending it was some sort of dream or something would get me nowhere.

But I always played off stuff as a dream or nightmare, didn't I? The visions, my mother's insanity, and the death of my father; all those things I wanted to play off as some hellish nightmare that kept haunting me. And now, on top of everything that has happened, I have to deal with monsters. Honestly, when will I get a break from all this? I didn't want to be some part of any of this.

Allen frowned at me before leaving the room. I was very happy when he did so because I didn't want him anywhere near me at the moment. I didn't want anywhere near me, really. I didn't know what to think or say or even do anymore. What had the weird little brat been talking about when he said something about me being an accommodator to innocence, anyway?

I threw myself at the pillow on my bed and squeezed it to my chest as tightly as I could. I wasn't going to cry over something as stupid as this, but I was very upset. How does one react when being told "You were attacked by that monster because you might have something to do with innocence"? What the hell was "innocence", anyway? Last time I checked, the word simply meant "free of sin" or something like that and it wasn't a word used for some sort of weapon.

I wrinkled my nose at the thought of being able to use some kind of weapon. I wouldn't be able to kill something even if it meant losing my life. What choice did I have, though? I would probably end up getting roped further into this entire mess and then I'd have to risk my own life to make sure someone else could live to see another day. Why would I even consider doing that to begin with?

I mean, unless it was Monica or Vincent or Cathy, I could careless what happened to the person. I wouldn't throw my own life away for the sake of someone else. That was really stupid and the very last thing on the list of things I'd intended to do in all of my life. I sighed and loosened my grip on the pillow before sitting up again. I didn't want to be caught up in any of this.

And there was a long moment in which I did nothing but sit there and stare off into space. My mind had pretty much gone blank and now I was getting a headache from thinking so hard. I was also kind of hungry and I was pretty sure the last thing I had to eat was breakfast, but I wasn't sure how long ago breakfast was. It could have been nighttime or early morning judging by how dark it was outside right now. It didn't matter; I just needed something to eat.

With food in mind, I threw my pillow against the headboard and stood up to venture off into the kitchen to see if we had any leftovers. Monica was scrambling to get finished with whatever she was cooking. It looked like some sort of soup from where I was standing. I figured it would probably be best if I just left her alone to continue with what she was doing, but she looked up at me and froze. I frowned at her and crossed my arms, knowing full well that I wouldn't get anywhere if I tried to leave now.

"Set up the tables." She instructed. "Vincent and Cathy are going to be eating here, too. So we need two extra plate settings."

I nodded slowly before walking past her to get some plates, bowls, and silverware out. I didn't want to make a second trip to get more plates, so I just pulled all eight out at once and quickly remembered just how heavy they were. Monica gave me a funny look and I just smiled at her to tell her to leave me alone. I could handle eight plates at once perfectly fine without someone doubting me like she was doing right now. I wasn't so hinderingly weak that I would drop everything.

"Maybe you should put some of those plates back and just make a few trips." Monica said. "You haven't eaten since yesterday morning. You aren't exactly as strong right now as you could be."

That explained why I was so hungry. I puffed my cheeks out and looked away from her. It's not like I was carrying a ton of bricks or anything; just a few plates and bowls. I could totally handle that even if I was a little lacking in the strength department at the moment.

"Stop worrying." I huffed.

An, with that, I headed out of the kitchen and into the dinning room. I didn't exactly make it to a table before everything I was holding fell to the ground with a loud crash. It certainly was bad timing for a vision, but I couldn't control those at all. I froze up as I had done many times before and everything melted away into a black and white scene that was just horrifying to see. There was blood everywhere I looked and Monica was just laying there as limp as could be.

There was a little boy under her, like she'd been trying to protect him. But it didn't matter. They were both dead. Monica was dead. I let out a loud shriek, then. I didn't want to see something like this.

"Julia!"

Someone had me by the shoulders. I couldn't see who it was or even tell from the voice, but I knew they were there. Someone was there with me, but I couldn't see them. I only saw that monster and the blood and Monica and the little boy.

"Snap out of it!"

Something started shaking me suddenly and the vision dispelled itself. When my eyes finally focused on what was actually in front of me, Lavi was right there. I think I was less shocked by the fact that he was right in my face than I was of the fact that he was squeezing my arms tighter than I'd realized. I could feel tears streaming down my face and was honestly a little surprised that I hadn't realized I was crying. His grip loosened just enough for me to throw myself at him.

I didn't care who it was, I just needed to hug someone. Lavi shifted awkwardly and I sat there and cried on him. I would have felt better if he'd held me back, but that was asking for too much. He did, however, sigh like he didn't want to be in this position. I probably should have let him go then, but I didn't want to. Just having someone right here, right now, calmed me down more than I think anything ever had. Lavi was just the victim of my sobbing at the moment.

"Julia," Monica said from somewhere behind me. "Why did she scream like that?"

"I don't know." Lavi answered.

"What do you mean 'I don't know'?!" Monica snapped. "You were the first one to her, weren't you? How could you not know?"

"I don't know what I don't know!" Lavi retorted. "She just screamed and started crying."

Monica didn't like that answer at all, if I knew her as well as I thought I did. I felt her grab my shoulders to try and pull me away from the red-haired man. I refused to let go of him, though. I didn't want to look at Monica right now. It would only make things worse.

And it seemed this one little action caused a big reaction out of both my sister and Lavi. Both of them were shocked, each in a different way. Monica tightened her grip on my shoulders and was being more forceful than she had just moments before. I only tightened my grip in hopes of not being forced to look at her.

"J-Julia!" Monica huffed. "Let go of him! You shouldn't cling to strangers like that."

I shook my head before ramming it further into Lavi's chest and he grunted. I knew I was making him uncomfortable, but it was better doing this than having to face Monica right now. She stopped trying to break my grip suddenly and I heard her sit down behind me. The room remained silent, aside from random sniffles I let out, for quite some time. I wasn't sure exactly what was about to happen, but it made me become a little uneasy.

"This is…" Monica began before pausing again. "Julia, are you… seeing things again? Like you did before dad… died?"

I froze up again. It really was that obvious, wasn't it? The same thing had happened just before dad was killed. But this wasn't like that at all, was it? I could stop these things from happening, couldn't I?

I stopped Cathy from getting hurt, right? So I could stop Monica from getting hurt, too, if I tried. Maybe. It would take more than wishful thinking to stop her from getting hurt. It would certainly take a lot of effort, wouldn't it?

"Julia, answer me." Monica said in such a way that it was obvious she was worried. "Yes or no? You can just shake your head if you don't want to say anything."

I didn't want to worry her like I was doing and just telling her that "yeah, it's the same" would make her worry even more than if I didn't respond at all. She'd know I was lying if I told her "no", though. She had me backed into a corner and I couldn't lie to her or tell her the truth. I didn't know what to do. It was then that I felt Lavi's hand on my back, pulling me closer to him.

"Maybe you should leave her alone." He suggested. "She's scared and you're only making it worse."

Monica gasped loudly and I knew she was just doing so to show she was annoyed. She stood up suddenly and stamped her foot before walking off. She wasn't going to just let this be, though. She'd come back later and try to pry everything out of me. She wouldn't stop until I told it all to her, either.

Lavi let me go and I finally let him go. I let my hands fall into my lap and stared at them, refusing to let myself look up at him. I was embarrassed now, actually, which is why I didn't want to look at him. The only thing that made me look up was the sound of footsteps at the entrance to the dinning room. Allen, Lenalee, and Kanda were all standing there staring at me. I had no idea how long they'd been there, but it didn't look like it'd been too long.

I frowned again and looked down at the floor. There was glass everywhere and I was surprised that I just now noticed it. I wondered how many plates and bowls I hadn't broken when I dropped them earlier, which seemed like a silly thing to think about at the moment. I quickly started picking up the mess I'd made only to get stopped by Allen. I looked up at him to see that he looked about as worried as Monica probably had before she stormed out of the room.

"Tell us what happened, Miss Julia." He said.

I shook my head and looked away from him. If I wasn't going to tell Monica, I wasn't going to tell any of them either. Not right now, at least. Oh, lord! I had to tell Monica about what I saw or else I might not be able to help her.

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**A/N: **_Another chapter for the lot of you. You get a Lavi/Julia moment even though the two of them seriously don't like each other like that right now. How's that for fun? Anyway, lots of rambling as well as Julia being freakishly selfish. Hope you've enjoyed the story so far.  
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	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer- **_I do not own D. Gray-Man or any of the characters from the series and with never claim them as my own._

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There were several times during the rest of the evening that I tried to tell Monica exactly what I'd seen, but my voice got caught in my throat every time I tried to tell her. When that happened, she just looked annoyed and told me to go do random chores. I think I spent more time running around than I did actually talking to anyone. Vincent and Cathy just watched me and looked like they were too afraid to say anything. They weren't here when everything went down, so they were better off not asking.

It would be silly for them to get involved in such a silly little "fight" anyway. It wasn't technically a fight, but no one was really talking at all. If I had known I would've been the cause of so much tension, I probably would have gone out some time ago even though it was already dark out. It would probably be a good idea to just go to bed in a few. I would just have to make sure Monica didn't leave, which would be hard to do without getting any sleep.

"Julia," Vincent said suddenly, stepping in my way. "You haven't said anything to me or Cathy since we got here. You can't hide the fact that something is bothering you. Now, tell me what's wrong?"

I crossed my arms and looked away. It wasn't any of his business, so why should I tell him? Everyone around me was being really nosy since earlier this evening. I didn't want everyone to get all worried about me because that was just stupid. Everyone was so stupid.

I looked up at Vincent for a second before turning around to go the other direction. He called my name once before I heard his sigh and give up. I hoped to get one moment of peace before going off to try and speak to Monica again. I didn't want to leave her, of all people, in the dark like I was doing. Since it involved her, she deserved to know.

I slapped my forehead as every thought in my mind was as scattered as could be. _I_ was worried, so focusing was the last thing I could do right now. I ran my hand through my hair before stepping into the kitchen. Lucky for me, Monica wasn't in there. That just meant another minute that I could try and make myself brave enough to tell her she was probably going to die.

"Julia!"

I spun around to see Monica standing there. Her arms were crossed and she looked very annoyed. She had every right to be with the way I was treating everyone. I would be pretty pissed if was her and had to put up with some little teenaged brat who did nothing but angst all the time. I didn't know how she even put up with half the time.

"Seriously, Julia," She said slowly. "You've done nothing but avoid _everyone_. We all know something is bothering you. It doesn't take much to realize that."

"I'm alright." I replied. "Don't worry about me. Nothing's wrong."

She didn't like that answer one bit. Golly geez, she knew I was lying. Then again, who didn't? I certainly wasn't being very convincing and I wouldn't be able to try and get people to think I was fine after hours of moping around. Might as well fess up before I tick everyone off to the point where no one will listen to me.

"Look…" I said, not giving Monica a chance to speak. "I just… I'm really scared, sis. "

"What?" She asked. "Is this about what happened earlier? Julia, tell me what happened!"

"Shut up and I will!" I snapped.

Monica jumped slightly and I frowned. I hadn't intended to scare her; I just wanted her to stop talking so that I could actually try and explain myself. I took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Now was as good a time as any, right? I just hoped I'd actually be able to get everything out this time before choking on my own words.

"I…" I paused. "Before… I did 'see things', if you want to call it that…"

I paused again, this time to try and figure out exactly how I was going to explain all this to her. I could probably just get away with telling her the vision, right? I didn't have to tell her everything in detail. I could just tell her that something bad happened to her in one of the visions I had and that's why I dropped everything earlier.

"Go on..." Monica said, motioning for me to continue.

"You were…" I paused yet again. "There was a little boy and you were… You tried to protect him, but… you both--!"

Monica held her hand up to stop me from saying anything else. She knew where I was going with this so there was no need for me to go on. She smiled at me before pulling me into a big hug. I didn't hesitate to hug her back because I honestly had no idea when she was suppose to be killed. None of my visions had a set time frame. They could happen anytime they wanted and all I had to go by was where it took place and where the sun was in the sky.

"I'm not going anywhere, Julia." She whispered. "I promise."

* * *

"What--You--!" I screamed. "Monica, please don't go out today. I'm begging you!"

"Julia, I have to go to the doctors'." Monica responded, spinning around to face me. "And if some little boy is going to be killed because of you stopping me… Well, that's just plain selfish! I thought you'd been raised better than this! It seems that I was severely mistaken."

I was hurt by her words and I couldn't deny it, but I didn't want to lose my sister just because she was willing to throw her life away to give some kid a chance even though she and the boy weren't going to make it. She was the only family I had left in this little town I called 'home'. Why the hell would I even want to give that away? This seriously shouldn't have been happening. And the shock seemed to set in then because I found myself frozen where I was as she stormed outside.

The shriek that came out of my mouth after that startled even me as I dropped to my knees behind the counter. I managed to alert our guests and they all shuffled down the stairs faster than I'd ever heard anyone do so before. I don't even regret being so loud so early in the morning.

"M-Miss Julia?"

I lifted my head to see Allen crouching down beside me. Why were people so kind, anyway? Where did it get them aside from rotting six feet under the ground? They were all a bunch of fools if they thought that it was good to throw themselves out there just to keep some stranger from dying.

"They're both going to die!" I gasped, bolting to my feet.

I thought I heard Allen make some noise like I startled him and I could feel all the eyes that were on me then. I didn't have anytime, though. Monica was…! She was in danger and I was doing nothing to try and help her. Hoping over the counter seemed like a silly thing to do, but they were all in my way and it was the fastest way to the door.

I heard someone calling my name from behind me, but my mind was too fogged up to even make sense of who it was. I was blinded by my own fears at this point to even really register much of everything. I stopped suddenly, but I didn't recall ever coming to a halt. Someone was holding me back. I saw why I was stopped, but Monica was there too and so were the boy and that monster.

"Let go!" I cried. "Monica! She's going to die! Let me go!"

"You'll be killed as well!"

That was all I heard before three blurs shot past whoever it was that was keeping me from going to my sister. Come to think of it, everything was really fuzzy and I was starting to feel really numb. I don't really recall what happened next aside from everything going black as more screaming played out through the darkness. And then there was nothing.

* * *

"Nurse, she's waking up!"

That voice, was it Vincent? No, it was higher pitched than Vincent's was. Wait; did he just say 'nurse'? What happened and why was there a nurse? I didn't recall getting hurt, but maybe it happened when I wasn't paying attention.

I didn't get my time to think because someone started to bother me. I batted their hands away before rolling over onto my side. I opened my eyes to see some nurse and that Allen guy standing there. Allen was frowning and the nurse looked like she was ready to throw me out a window. I figure I had that affect on certain people when I was annoyed or confused or whatever.

"Where's Monica?" I asked. "She's not… is she?"

"No." Allen said. "She's hurt, but she's alive."

"That's good." I mumbled.

"Sit up!" The nurse hissed, breaking into what little of a conversation had been started.

I didn't think I was hurt, so I wasn't sure why this woman was being so fussy and mean. Rather than challenging her and possibly ending up getting beaten up, I sat up and waited to see what she was going to do. Nothing happened, other than me getting really dizzy and wanting to lie back down. This was probably because of the amount I've had over the past few days, or lack thereof. I really was hungry, wasn't I?

"C-Can I lay down?" I asked, laughing nervously. "I feel kind of lightheaded."

"That's because you haven't been eating enough." The nurse snapped. "I'll bring some food in for you after I check on the other patients."

And, with that, she was gone. I was very happy about that because she was kind of intimidating. I honestly thought she was going to kill me for a second. I mean, if looks could kill then she would have. I turned my attention back to Allen, who was just standing there staring at the door. I wish he wasn't the one who was here with me because I would rather be with someone that I knew better.

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**A/N:**_ I would like to apologize for this chapter being so jumpy. I bounced around because I got to points where I couldn't write for certain parts anymore and had to go to a next scene. Most of this chapter was actually written before I even got chapter two started. I just had to go back and edit some things and add on to it. Hope you'vve enjoyed the story so far.  
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	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer- **_I do not own D. Gray-Man or any of the characters from the series and with never claim them as my own._

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I was beginning to wonder if anything was going to start making sense again anytime soon when Allen decided to make me the object of his attention again. I frowned at him and he looked away again. I felt very nervous right then because he hadn't bothered speaking to me and I really didn't know what to say. What would you say to someone who obviously knows more than you do about the situation you're in right now anyway? Do you say something like "hey, I know you're not telling me the entire truth" or "I demand to know whatever it is you're keeping from me" or something like that?

"Allen…"I said, before completely cutting myself off.

I didn't want to start bombarding him with too many questions, so I settled with trying to get his attention again. He replied with a quite 'hm' and I felt very nervous again. I squeezed the blanket until my hand started hurting. It was a silly thing to do, but I did it anyway. I wanted to know what I wasn't being told, but I didn't want to be rude and pushy with the poor boy.

He looked stressed enough already. Aw, who the hell am I kidding? I don't really care if I stress him out anymore. He's not a little boy so there was no sense in babying him like I was trying to. Right as I opened my mouth, that red-haired guy, Lavi, decided to burst into the room.

"So you are awake!" He exclaimed as he clapped his hands together.

I'll admit that I nearly jumped out of my skin, but who could blame me? This man just popped up out of nowhere, spoke very loudly, and clapped his hands right in the middle of a very awkward pause. I stared at him and the expression on his face slowly twisted into a frown. I blinked, confused as confused could be.

"You're so pale." He said, sounding genuinely concerned. "Are you alright?"

"I…" I paused and finally decided it was a good idea to lie back down. "Yeah. I'm fine. I just-! You just scared me a little, is all…"

"Oh…" He mumbled before fumbling around in his pocket for something. "Monica… She made me bring this to you."

I looked at the clear blue bracelet in his hand. It was a small bracelet, the majority of it being made of nothing but glass. Where it fastened in the front was hidden by a tiny bell and three little pieces of cloth that were cut to look like extremely small feathers. The bell, itself, was silver in color while the cloth was a blue-ish purple. Truthfully, I could have completely described the bracelet in detail without even looking at it. It was a sort of family heirloom that was supposed to go to Monica, but she'd decided long ago that she was going to give it to me.

It was a beautiful bracelet with a bell that sounded just as beautiful, even if it was so small. It was certainly one of the only things I could ever remember calming me down so easily as a child, though Monica was helping too. And I really couldn't figure out why I was so fixated on a silly bracelet. So fixated, apparently, that I didn't really realize I wasn't looking at anything in particular at the moment, not even the very bracelet that had my full attention this whole time.

"Julia?" Lavi said, snapping me completely back to reality. "Are you sure you're alright?"

I really couldn't believe that I hadn't noticed him crouch down beside the bed to look at me. Now he had me wondering if I was alright, though. Maybe I wasn't. I didn't even know why I lying in a hospital bed right now anyway. I probably hit my head really hard on something earlier and just couldn't remember doing so.

I was actually surprised that I just now realized Lavi was pretty bruised up, and so was Allen. There was something I was missing; something I should know right now. But I didn't know anything. And I was tuning out everything that was going on around me again. Why was I doing that?

Was I purposely trying to shut everything out now? How stupid of me. It made me laugh, honestly, because I realized how weak I was right then. But that laughing quickly turned to tears because I knew what had happened and I knew how useless I was. The only thing I did was get in the way and cause other people to get hurt because of me. People were too kind and it almost made me sick just thinking about how many would throw there lives away for someone else.

Lavi seemed confused about what to do then. I probably looked crazy to him right now, but he still seemed to be concerned about me. About someone he barely even knew. How ridiculous!

"Why…?" I mumbled.

"What?"

"You!" I snapped, sitting up suddenly. "Why would you…! Why would you help someone you didn't know?! Why the hell would you risk your life to save someone that didn't matter at all to you?!"

He didn't say anything and he didn't seem to want to look at me anymore. I took the pillow from behind me and attacked him with it. He needed to be hit, to have some sense knocked into him. He flinched back for a second before grabbing both my arms and pinning them to the bed so I couldn't hit him anymore.

"Have you lost your mind?!" He asked, tightening the grip he had on my arms slightly. "Don't hit me and act like I did something wrong!"

"It doesn't make any sense at all!" I cried. "Why would you do something like that?"

I wanted to hit him again. I really just wanted to beat him senseless right now and I know he didn't even deserve it. I struggled very hard to get him to let go, but he only pressed my hands harder into the bed. I jerked backwards as hard as I possibly could and jerked my hands out from under Lavi's. They were red and stung like I'd just stuck them into a boiling pot of water. But that was the least of my worries as I tumbled off the other side of the bed and landed on the floor with a 'thud'.

I'd managed to pull the bracelet with me when I jerked back and it clattered to the ground beside my head, its bell jingling as it settled. The nurse had already rushed back into the room then and I heard her screaming at Lavi to 'get out' because he was 'upsetting her patient'. I didn't bother sitting up when she came in or when she started or even when Lavi stormed out of the room. The only thing I wanted to look at was the bracelet that was lying next to me. It was far more interesting to look at anyway.

The next thing I knew, the nurse was helping me back into the bed. She didn't look happy at all and she was staring to bother me again. It was very hard to be in a room with her without feeling extremely uncomfortable. But she had a lot of people to look after and I was probably to last person she should have to help right now. I wished she'd go away.

"If he comes back and bothers you again, call for me!"

I nodded slowly and she went off to get me the food she'd promised me a while ago. I didn't want it anymore, though. I felt about how I just acted, but feeling bad about it just pissed me off even more. I shouldn't have used a pillow to try and beat the hell out of that asshole. I should have just punched in square in the jaw.

I rolled over into the pillow to muffle the scream I was about to let out. This just brought more attention to me again and I glared up at the doorway when I heard someone walk into the room. Lavi was standing there and I honestly couldn't believe he'd come right back after getting yelled at by such a scary woman. Why was I even mad at him in the first place? He didn't do anything wrong.

"What're you doing here again?" I asked.

He stood there; arms crossed, staring back at me. He didn't say anything or move or even look away. I really made him mad, didn't I? I wanted to laugh at myself again. This was all so very confusing and aggravating and funny all at the same time.

I got off the bed slowly and stood up straight, crossing my arms as well. He wasn't intimidated by me and I wasn't really intimidated by him. He was taller than me by five or so inches and he was stronger than me by a lot, I was sure. He could take me out if he really had to, but I don't think he would. I took a step closer to him and he stood still, watching every little move I made.

"What?" I asked, taking another step toward him. "Cat got your tongue? Or are you just too sacred to say anything?"

I swore I saw his nose wrinkle as I spoke, but that was it. He was still standing there and he was actually blocking the only safe exit from the room. I really just felt like baiting him. I wanted to see how mad I could get him, for some totally insane reason. I still felt like hitting him, though.

I took another step closer; still no reaction from him. I was beginning to think the only way to get a reaction out of him was if I tried to hit him. And that's exactly what I did. I lunged forward, arm drawn back to punch him. The attack stopped as quickly as it began and I found my arm pinned behind my back.

"Is that all you're going to do?" I said with a laugh. "You're certainly not a gentleman. What's stopping you fro—Augh! Ow!"

He moved my arm farther up my back, which pretty much forced me to my knees. It probably wouldn't take much more pressure for him to screw up my entire arm. I slapped my free hand against the ground repeatedly to try and ignore the fact that I wanted to call "uncle". I wasn't going to lose to this guy.

"Just stop it already!" Lavi snapped. "What are you trying to prove by making me do this? "

"Maybe I…" I paused for a moment to try and push against him. "Maybe I just think it's… fun!"

He pushed me closer to the floor then and I honestly felt like he didn't like that answer at all. I didn't want to be afraid of him before, but now I was starting to get a little unnerved. He was going to keep putting more and more pressure on my arm and back until he had my face flat against the floor. I

"You think this is fun?" He asked.

"Y-Yeah."

He pushed me farther down again. There was probably only about an inch in between the floor and my face at this point and I was starting to get a little teary-eyed. It hurt to be pinned in such a manner at this and it was something else. Something else was making me want to cry. I was already starting to cry, wasn't I?

I think Lavi knew that I was. His grip slowly started to loosen up as I started shaking. I didn't want to cry twice in one day. That was just stupid. And yet here I was, starting to bawl my eyes out like some child who wasn't getting what they wanted.

My arm was now completely back under my control, but I didn't move it too quickly because it was really sore. I felt pathetic lying on the floor like this. It was embarrassing and pathetic. I really deserved it, though, after what I tried to do. Lavi helped my to my feet and back over to the bed just as the nurse was walking back into the room.

There was that uncomfortable feeling again. It was like being stuck in a room full of angry men who wanted to kill you. She was mad again and she was probably going to kick Lavi out through the window. I grabbed the front of his shirt and he tried to turn away. I didn't really want him to be here, but I didn't want to be alone with Angry Nurse again.

"I thought I told you to leave her alone." The woman barked.

Lavi looked between me and the nurse like he had a really tough decision to make. If he wanted to leave that badly, then he should just pull away from me and go. I didn't need him, not one bit. But my hand said otherwise and I squeezed the fabric tighter. He looked down at me again and I swear I had no idea what kind of look I had on my face, but it was enough to make him pry my hand from his shirt and sit down next to me on the bed.

The nurse came over and shoved the tray of food right into my arms, not even caring if anything fell off or not, before storming out of the room. The only things on the tray were a few fruits and some bread. I didn't blame them for not giving me a huge meal. It was a small hospital with a lot of people that needed to be tended to, but money was low and they couldn't afford to go all out and be fancy about everything.

"I-I'm really stupid, aren't I?" I asked while sniffling and trying not to laugh at myself again. "I just… I don't get why you would just throw your own life away for someone you don't even know. Why would you do that?"

"Because that's what happens in wars." He replied.

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_**A/N- **__Thus ends the lovely chapter six, which is full of nothing but WTFery. And, yes, if you pin someone's arm behind their back and hold at a certain point, they will fall to their knees. My friend did it to me a while ago as a demonstration for what she was talking about. It's something about reflexes or something. Chapter seven will be up sometime this weekend._


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer- **_I do not own D. Gray-Man or any of the characters from the series and with never claim them as my own._

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"That's a stupid answer." I huffed.

I went back to picking my bread apart. It was a stupid reason, too. Wars were stupid, people were stupid. Everything was stupid! Why was everything so stupid?

"Are you going to stop pouting?" Lavi asked.

"I wasn't pouting." I said, though it really wasn't helping my case any. "I was just thinking about how stupid the world was. Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

I was pouting and I knew it. I just couldn't believe that I lost. I actually lost to him. That only further proved that I was weak, and stupid too. Ugh, stupid, stupid, stupid!

I stopped my inner hate fest and looked down at Lavi for the first time this entire "conversation". Much to my surprise, he was grinning from ear to ear. He was laughing at me, that jerk! He was the pushing buttons this time. I tried to kick him in the side, but he grabbed my leg and pulled me off the bed.

This only resulted in me dropping my tray and making a mess of fruit and bread. Now the question was what was _he_ trying to prove. That he could hurt me without even trying? No, he wouldn't do something like that, would he? He said he didn't want to hurt me earlier.

I stared at him for who knows how long and he grabbed my right arm. I'd forgotten I put that bracelet on when he left earlier. I didn't even hear it ringing before. I guess I really hadn't been paying attention to much anything before. I guess I really had shut myself off to everything for a while.

"The bell on this sounds really weird." He said, turning his attention to me. "What's it made of?"

"Silver, I think." I asked, shaking my hand a bit. "It's a little loud for being so small, isn't it? I never noticed that before."

"That's not what I…" Lavi paused and frowned. "Nevermind. It's not important."

I had no idea what he was trying to say. I didn't think there was more than one answer about what I bell was made of, but I guess I was wrong. I stared at it very hard to try and figure out what he actually meant, but there was nothing. It was just a tiny silver bell attached to a bracelet. That was all it was.

I looked up to see that he was still looking at me. I didn't know what was so interesting that he had to stare, but maybe I was making another strange expression without realizing it. Unless it was something else that I hadn't realized before. I reached up to pat my hair to make sure nothing had happened to it, but it was fine. I looked at Lavi yet again.

"What_ are_ you looking at?" I asked

"Are you comfortable?" He answered.

"What does that have to-!" I paused and looked down.

I was sitting in his lap, which was something I probably should have noticed before. Maybe it was about time I started paying attention today. I wasn't normally this scatter-brained unless someone told me to do something while I was really hungry. I didn't think I was _that_ hungry. Lavi laughed again and the sudden urge to hit him came back.

Oh, this guy! He was so annoying. I couldn't believe nobody had killed him before now with how he acted. I would have if I could have, but he already proved to me two times that I wouldn't be able to even if I tried. I frowned and settled for pinching his nose, which quickly shut him up. He just yanked my hand off his face and frowned at me.

"Was that really necessary?" He asked.

"Yes, it was." I replied. "Stop laughing at me!"

"If it's not me, then who will?"

I slapped my hand into his chest and huffed. He was still making fun of me. He was such a jerk. How did he even have friends, anyway? With an attitude like he had, no one would anyone even want to hang around him for very long.

I needed to change the topic before I got any more annoyed than I was. There wasn't really much to talk about, though. Except for everything I've been out of the loop about, but I had a feeling no one would really tell me even if I asked. The most Allen told me about was the Akuma things and then he briefly mentioned something about innocence or something. Most of what he said didn't even make any sense at all, anyway.

"You said Monica told you to give this to me?" I asked, holding up my arm to show him the bracelet again. "How was she doing when you saw her?"

He didn't answer me immediately and I really didn't take that as a good sign. I mean, she was obviously well enough to order someone to do something for her. But she couldn't do so herself, which meant that the doctors were making her stay put. Which probably meant that she wasn't really wasn't well enough to get up and walk or anything. So she must not have been in very good shape to begin with. This, honestly, worried me very much because she didn't usually let anything stop her from doing anything even when she was hurt.

"Allen said she was alive!" I shouted. "He only said she was hurt. Lavi, how badly is she hurt?! You said you saw her!"

He still didn't answer and, instead, looked away from me completely. Why wasn't anyone telling me what was wrong with my sister? Was it really that bad that they all wanted to hide it from me? I was a big girl. I could take whatever news they threw at me, so why weren't they letting me know?

I grabbed the collar of his shirt and tried to shake him. I knew he was hiding things from me and this was what it was. I wanted to know. I had a right to know. Monica was my sister, so nobody had any right to keep anything from me.

"Why won't you tell me?!" I demanded. "Damn it, Lavi! I have a right to know. Tell me!"

I found myself crying for the third time today. I was really emotionally unstable right now, wasn't I? I really couldn't help it, though. People were keeping secrets from me and none of them wanted to tell me about what happened to Monica. The grip I'd had on Lavi's shirt slowly loosened up as I dropped my head against his chest.

I still wanted someone else here even after all this time, but I was forced to settle with this guy again. He didn't hesitate pulling me to him like he did answering me, though. He rested his chin on top of my head and sighed.

"She was…" He paused. "… in bad shape, but your sister's tough, right? She'll be fine. Don't cry."

"Don't tell me not to cry!" I snapped. "I ca-!"

I squeezed Lavi's shirt again, knowing exactly what I was about to see. I was cut off from the real world, then, and sent into the black and white world that was my own mind. It was here, in this room. There was glass shattering and flying everywhere. It was really hard to figure out what was going on.

Everything was moving so fast and there was something that sounded like a gun shot. There was a sharp pain in my stomach and I slowly looked down to see blood quickly staining my shirt. I started losing focus and someone called me name. I was falling back and there was nothing between me and the floor. I'd been shot and I was going to die.

Someone called my name again. I couldn't even make out who it was. There voice just echoed and echoed. It just repeated over and over and over again.

"Snap out of it, damn it!"

Everything melted away until there was color again. Lavi was staring at me like I'd gone off the deep end. And this was the second time he'd pulled me out of a vision like that. But it was very unsettling seeing him sitting there. I looked at the window and my eyes grew wide.

I grabbed his shirt again and kicked my feet against the floor to try and pull him backward and onto the ground. I hadn't expected to actually get him to budge at all, but I was lucky enough to catch him off guard. I landed on my back with him on his hands and knees over me. This probably would have been even more embarrassing if the situation were any different.

"No, you idiot." I shouted, tugging his shirt again. "Get closer! Closer! Get down!"

He tried to object, but the window broke as he opened his mouth. In that split second he dropped completely to the floor and made things far more awkward than they had been moments ago. I shouldn't have even been worried about that, though. There was nothing but a bed between the wall and us and it wasn't going to do anything to stop what was about to happen. We were as helpless as mice trapped in a maze.

He could have run when he had the chance, but I stupidly grabbed him and pulled him to the ground with me. What was I thinking doing that? We were both going to die because of me. Something, there had to be something I could do, but there wasn't. I didn't want to die at all.

"No!" I shrieked, squeezing my eyes shut as tightly as I could.

And what I expected to happen next, didn't. I opened my eyes to see some strange shield-like dome thing covering us. I could see things hitting it, but they just turned into showers of sparks on impact. I turned my head toward the bed, forgetting Lavi's was right there and ended up resting my cheek on his for a second. I quickly looked the other way, at the door.

It and the wall were covered in holes and I heard people screaming out in the hall. I shuddered a bit as Lavi breathed on my neck. I know he didn't mean to, but it still felt really weird. The shield started to fade a bit and I looked back at him. Was he the one who made it or was I?

"Pay attention to what you're doing." He said. "You'll get us killed if you don't."

"I did this?" I asked, my eyes growing wide again.

"Focus, Julia!" He replied. "Don't let it fall."

I nodded slowly and looked forward before squeezing my eyes shut again. I was actually doing something useful, even if I didn't know how. I didn't want to end up undoing what I'd just done. I felt Lavi move over a bit so that he wasn't completely on top of me anymore. I honestly couldn't believe he was relying on me, though.

_You're losing focus. Stay focused Julia._

I wasn't sure how long we'd stayed there like that, but it was long enough that I was starting to get tired. I heard something start cracking and I opened my eyes again. It was the shield this time. There were a bunch of cracks forming and they were starting to get bigger and bigger. Panicked, I looked at Lavi again.

He was looking at me, but it didn't seem like he actually saw me. He was thinking really hard about something and I hoped it was a plan b. It didn't look like I'd be able to keep this up much longer even if I pushed myself really hard. The blows to the shield began to lessen and lessen for a minute and Lavi gritted his teeth.

"Let it go." He said, as he moved to pick me up. "We're gonna run while we have a chance."

I was slightly horrified by this suggestion, but he was already ready to go. Now he was the one who was going to get us killed. Either way, it didn't look like I had much of a say in the matter. I took a deep breath.

"Ready?" I asked.

"As I'll ever be." He replied.

* * *

_**A/N- **__More WTFery from this chapter, guys. Also, Julia and Lavi don't think of each other like _that_. But it totally looks like they do, doesn't it? I think I'm slowly starting to lean toward that a bit early, which is bad, but whatever. This chapter was interesting anyway, hopefully._


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer- **_I do not own D. Gray-Man or any of the characters from the series and will never claim them as my own._

* * *

Lavi and I made it out of the hospital with only a few scratches and I later found out that Monica didn't get harmed in that attack. I was fine and back and I honestly thought I'd be more focused on her than I actually was. The only thing running through my mind, though, was what had happened back in that hospital room. Just thinking about it put butterflies in my stomach. I still couldn't believe I'd tried to help him like I did. He would have been fine without me, anyway.

And I wouldn't have been put in such an awkward situation, either. He'd breathed on my neck, which sent chills down my spine. He was _lying_ on top of me, but that was completely my fault to begin with. At least this gave me something to hate him for later. I really need something to get my mind of all this, though. Thinking about it was only going to make things far more awkward in the future.

I made my way down into the kitchen to make some coffee and breakfast. I may not have liked any of them, but Allen and the others were our guests and it was my job to make sure they given the best service we could offer. I was busy fixing a cup of coffee when a certain redhead walked into the kitchen, stopped in the doorway. He was probably trying to keep his distance, which was completely fine by me because he was making me nervous just standing there.

"For someone who said it was stupid," He began, a grin starting to form on that disgustingly cute face of his. "You sure did a good job saving someone you didn't know."

"I didn't want to die alone." I answered quickly with the straightest face I could make.

It's really hard to make a straight face when you feel really embarrassed and you know your face is turning a million shades of red all at once. Lavi really didn't seem to be paying much attention to the color of my face, though. That, or he just wasn't saying anything about it. I would have been fine had he just stayed where he was, even if he was blocking the entrance to the kitchen, but no. He decided he'd come and invade my space while stealing my cup of coffee right out of my hands.

"I really don't think you want to drink this." He said as he moved over to the sink.

"Don't you pour that down the drain!" I snapped. "Give it back!"

"I don't know." He said, tilting his hand slightly. "I was thinking you'd like some coffee with all this sugar."

I paused and stared at him as he dumped the contents of my cup into the sink. A thick glob of coffee-colored sugar was all that came out of the cup and I was suddenly more embarrassed than I had been moments before. I'd been so distracted by this jerk that I hadn't really been paying any attention to the amount of sugar I was scooping into my cup. I'd never done something like that before. I couldn't believe I'd just done it now.

"Maybe if you weren't so distracting, I wouldn't do something like that!" I squawked, but I quickly threw my hands over my mouth.

Lavi seemed surprised by this comment, but he quickly shook it off and grinned again as he set my coffee cup down. I tried to take a step back before realizing there was a counter directly behind me. It was mocking me by just being there. It was working against me by just existing. Stupid counter!

"I'm distracting?" He asked.

"That's not what I meant!" I snapped.

He grin only grew wider as I squirmed. Somehow, my friends knew the right moment to burst in, though, and I was saved from this red-headed lunatic. It was strange that Cathy didn't giggle at the expression I was making when she walked in. Instead, she looked really upset, like something else had happened that I didn't know about. This kind of frightened me and I rushed over to her.

"What's wrong?" I asked, placing my arms on her shoulders.

"I h-heard tha-that you were…" She paused and rubbed her eyes as she began to cry. "Vincent said you were leaving."

"W-What?" I stupidly asked.

"He… He said you were going away." She continued. "Said when these people left, you were going with them."

"I-I'm… I'm-I'm…" I stuttered. "I'm not going anywhere, Cathy. You go ahead and go home, okay? I'll come by in little by."

Cathy nodded and left the room. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I sure as hell wasn't about to let myself be left out in the dark about it. I spun around on my heel to face Lavi, the expression on my face catching him off guard. He held his hands up as I stomped closer to him and shoved my finger in his face.

"You!" I hissed. "What the hell was she talking about?!"

"Maybe now isn't the best time to tell you." He said.

"Oh, no, Lavi." I replied. "Now is the _perfect_ time to tell me. _Now_ is the perfect time to tell me every damn thing you've been keeping from me. I demand an explanation that's more than just telling me what the hell those _things_ that have been wreaking havoc these past few days are. I want to know everything, Lavi, _everything_! And you're going to tell or I swear to god I'll beat the hell outta you with a f-cking frying pan."

"Look, I—!" He paused. "We were _going_ to tell you, I swear. But there was never really a good chance, you see."

"F-ck you!" I snapped, cutting him off completely. "I don't like being _told_ what I'm going to do like that. I should have a say in the matter before you go spouting off to my _friends_ that I'm going somewhere!"

I stormed out of the room before he even got a chance to reply. He would have tried to defend himself again if I'd let him speak. I rammed into Lenalee as I headed for the door and felt a twinge of guilt when I saw her expression.

"M-Miss Julia!" She called after me.

I ignored her and continued on my way. I had no reason to be in the same building as any of those liars. I needed to be somewhere that would do me a great deal of help and make me forget what was going on, even if it was only momentary. But it was far too early to go to a bar, so I decided to go visit Cathy just so I could drag Vincent off with me later.

* * *

_**A/N: **__Sorry for a short chapter, I wanted write a bunch of fun next chapter, but it kind of has to be from Lavi's P.O.V. or else you get a bunch of incomprehensible thoughts and the chapter gets all mucked up. Also, there are some words that I just refuse to type and the F-word is one of them. I still wanted to get the point across that Julia was using that word, so I ate the vowel. As you can tell, or red-haired lead has quite the mouth and she isn't afraid to show it._


	9. Chapter 9 Lavi

**Disclaimer- **_I do not own D. Gray-Man or any of the characters from the series and will never claim them as my own._

**Note: **_Chapters with 'Lavi' beside the number mean it's in Lavi's P.O.V. _

* * *

"Lavi, Miss Julia has been gone all afternoon." Lenalee said, turning around to look at me. "Did you really look everywhere you could think of to find her?"

I shook my head. There were a few places I didn't bother looking because I really didn't think she'd actually go to them. I rubbed the back of my neck before shoving my hands in my pockets. It was getting late and there was no telling what kind of trouble she could get into. Not that she wasn't fully capable of taking care of herself or anything…

"Then go back out and find her." Lenalee snapped, shoving me out the door.

"Why do I have to?" I whined.

"Because you're the one who made her mad in the first place!" She said as she slammed the door in my face.

I sighed before turning around to go on my way. This was nothing but a troublesome day that I wished would end already. It really didn't matter much to me what happened to Julia, anyway. It would be her own fault if she got hurt or something, so I didn't really see why I was the one who had to go out and find her. It would have gone faster if they'd all helped look for her, too, but they were all too busy sitting around on their lazy asses to do anything.

"Lavi" I heard someone call from behind me. It was really high pitched and sounded like the person was trying to sing while speaking. I turned around to see Julia standing there with a really dumb look on her face. I didn't even think her voice could get that high. She tried to take a step toward me before she stumbled and almost knocked me over.

She started giggling all of a sudden and it didn't take very long to figure out she was drunk. I helped her stand up straight, but she ended up back in my arms for the second time. It didn't look like getting her home was going to be very easy.

"Hey-Hey!" She said in the weird high-pitched voice. "The gr-grou-ground… is spinning, you know that? I think I might fall over."

She started giggling again and the people walking by began to give us some really odd looks. Maybe standing out in the middle of the street with a girl who appeared to really loony wasn't the best thing you could do so early in the evening. I decided to just pick her up, but the moment I tried, she punched me in the face. She started whining about wanting a piggyback ride and refused to stop hitting me until I gave her what I wanted. This got us even more odd looks and so I had to give in.

"Okay." I said. "Fine, fine. Just stop yelling and hitting me."

The moment she was on my back, she nearly choked in what I guessed was and attempt to hug me. I grabbed her arms and tugged on them until she loosened her grip around my neck. Before long, she calmed down and rested her chin on my shoulder. I thought she'd fallen asleep at first, but she started rambling on about a bunch of things in gibberish. I sighed and kept walking.

"Mn… Lavi…" She said suddenly, brushing her nose against the side my neck.

"What?" I asked, tilting my head away from hers.

"I love you." She answered.

I stopped walking. I half expected her to start laughing again. When she didn't, I did. She was drunk, so I should have known she was going to say silly things like that. I think I was caught of guard, really.

"Is that so?" I asked.

"You don't believe me!" She pouted.

"I-It's not that I don't believe you!" I said in a panic. "I promise!"

I really didn't want her to start crying because it would cause me a big headache before the night was up. She seemed satisfied enough with my answer that she decided to drool on my shoulder. I was very glad that the front door to her inn was right in front of me. I could get her off my back and into a bed soon. Then I could go clean her slobber off my sleeve.

I spent the next few minutes trying to get the door open without dropping her before someone finally opened it for me. Lenalee gave me the strangest look, but it went away the moment she saw Julia sleeping on my back. I smiled at her before stepping inside and heading upstairs. Lucky for me, sleeping beauty didn't close her door completely and I was able to nudge it open with my foot. I really didn't care about the shape her room was in, but it was hard to look past how most of the room was freakishly organized aside from this one little pile of clothes off to the corner of the room.

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a clean room?" I mumbled as I laid her down on the bed.

I was ready to leave, I really was. But I felt something latch onto my shirt as I turned toward my door. I looked down at the culprit, a very pouty-faced and very drunk little girl. I frowned and grabbed her hand in both of mine, slowly prying her fingers from my shirt. She was very persistent, I had to admit, but it was beginning to get really annoying.

"Don't go yet." She whined.

"Why can't I go yet?" I asked.

"Cause I want a…" She paused. "A kiss good night!"

I looked away from her for a second, having to admit that I was caught off guard for a second time. She was drunk, I knew she was drunk, but she sounded so very serious. It was a very bold thing to ask of someone you hardly even knew. I looked back down at her, realizing she wasn't going to let me go until I gave her what she wanted. I bent down and pushed her hair out of her face before giving her a very quick kiss on the forehead.

"Is that good enough?" I asked.

"Y-Yeah!" She giggled. "Night, Lavi."

I pulled my hand back and got up to leave. The faster I was out of the room, the faster I could actually relax. And by relax, I meant sit right across the hall from Julia's room and wonder what the hell she was thinking going out and getting drunk off her ass like that. It would have been perfectly fine if I wasn't the one who had to go get her, but she became my problem the moment she stomped out the door earlier. It was even my fault she got pissed off in the first place.

Her so-called "friend" was the one who started all this to begin with. And the more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I took a deep breath before purposely smacking my head against the wall behind me. I wanted to get out of this stupid little town now more than ever.

* * *

I felt a sharp pain in my side and opened my eyes to an angry-looking Julia standing over me. She looked like she was about to kick me again, so I got sat up as quickly as I could. It seems I managed to fall asleep in the hall. No one bothered moving me into a room, but they cared enough to throw a cover over me.

"I have a very nasty headache." She began. "I have absolutely no idea what the hell happened last night and something about you sleeping right outside my room really pisses me off. So you can either get kicked again or tell me everything while helping me breakfast. It's your choice."

I groaned as I got to my feet and followed her to the kitchen. Both options only benefited her to begin with. It was a lose-lose situation no matter how you looked at it. I just went with the one that wouldn't give me anymore bruises than I already had. I had hoped it wouldn't result in more bruising, really, but Julia was a very rough girl, for lack of better words.

As I explained what had happened and what was going to happen, I ended up getting a bunch of plates shoved into my stomach along with a frying pan later on and I even had a few wooden spoons thrown at me, but most of that was because Julia wasn't calm enough to really cook anything and kept getting mad when she burned something. It was almost like she had no idea how to cook and the end result of whatever she was doing might end up being hazardous to everyone's health. I really wasn't in the mood to let anyone get food poisoning just because the girl cooking would probably hit me in the face with a hot frying pan the moment I tried to help her. And I did try and help by standing behind her and grabbing her hands to get hold of the spoon she was holding and the flying pan. I expected her to jerk her arm back and elbow me in the gut, but she stood there, letting me guide her hands.

After about a minute or two of this, she finally started trying to get her hands out from under mine. I lifted my arm so she pinned between me and the stove and she moved very quickly to get away from me in an attempt to hide how red her face had become. It was kind of cute watching her when she was embarrassed, but I don't think I could say that for any other time because she wasn't a very pleasant person to be around. I looked back down at the eggs I'd managed to take over cooking and pulled them off the stove to get them on a plate before making some more. As I reached for some eggs, I realized there was nothing under my hand. I looked over to see Julia grabbed the eggs I'd just been reaching for and looked back to see what she was making.

It looked like the beginnings of pancake batter, from what I could tell. I finally decided to go back to making more scrambled eggs after a few moments of watching her mix a whole bunch of things together. Before I knew it, she was shoving me over so she had some room to cook as well. She seemed to like her space because I was right up against the counter in an attempt to give her more room than she actually needed.

"Wouldn't it be easier if you were on this side?" I asked. "You're a lot smaller than I am and it's really hard to cook when I have a counter top shoving into my ribs."

"Huh?" She asked, looking up at me. "Oh, yeah. Yeah. Hang on."

I can't say I wasn't expecting her to hit me because I really was. Which is why I was so surprised when she didn't. I really wanted to know what had gotten into her all of a sudden that she wasn't trying to kill me for just speaking anymore. It was better that I didn't question her, though, because it was actually kind of nice not having her trying to jump down my throat. After we'd switched places, we went back to cooking and the silence was starting to get a little annoying. The moment I went to speak, she cut my off.

"Sorry." She said quietly.

"For what?" I asked.

"Everything…" She replied. "Monica would have scolded me if she knew how I'd been acting. I had no right to take everything out on you. It's not like you're the one who attacked her and you and Allen and Lenalee, you all have done nothing but try and help me. So I wasn't being very fair. I just don't like it when something changes how I live my life."

I didn't respond and, instead, turned my attention to the pan full of eggs in front of me. I wasn't purposely ignoring her or anything. I just didn't know what to say. She'd made my life hell for all the time that I'd been here and she was just now apologizing for it. It was hard to tell if she was actually being truthful or not and I wasn't about to let her trick me into believing her if she was lying.

* * *

Breakfast was just as quiet as the rest of the time Julia and I finished cooking. She sat at a small table near the window to get away from everyone like she usually tried to and paid more attention to a silly newspaper and her coffee than the food on the plate in front of her. I frowned and grabbed my food and drink before sitting across from her. She looked at me from over her newspaper before she folded it up and set it aside.

"So you are going to eat?" I asked. "I thought you were just going to let your food get cold and then throw it away."

"I wasn't going to." She answered, poking at her eggs with her fork. "But then I remembered that you were the one who cooked the eggs and I suddenly felt like it would be a bad idea to eat them."

"That's not very nice." I said with a pout.

"Well, I have no idea how good of a cook you are." She said, giggling suddenly. "Depending on how good you are, I might have to tie you up and lock you in the pantry until your friends leave."

"I think they'd notice if I went missing." I replied.

"I don't." She laughed.

"You're being meaner than you are funny." I whined.

"Says who?" She asked. "You? Your opinion doesn't matter, silly."

I was glad she was still in a good mood. I was afraid I would have had to make a quick getaway if she wasn't. It might have been nicer if she wasn't making such mean jokes, but at least she was laughing and having a good time. It was good to see that she was eating rather than skipping a bunch of meals, though. I might've had to hear her sister complain about her losing too much weight later on.

"Julia?"

"What?" She asked, looking up at me again.

"About yesterday," I began. "It was your sister who wanted you to go with us. She pulled Allen aside a few days ago and asked him to take care of you if anything happened to her."

"Sounds like Monica." She said. "But isn't Allen younger than I am? I thought he was sixteen or something. My sister really doesn't make any sense. I should probably go visit her today if they let me, though. Lenalee, would you like to go with me?"

We both looked over at Lenalee, who seemed really surprised to be asked. She nodded and it was decided that the two of them would leave after breakfast, which they got through fairly quickly. As they were getting ready to leave, I looked over at Allen and saw that he was about to offer to go with.

"I'll go, too." I said loudly, cutting him off.

"Hurry up." Julia said as she opened the door. "We'll leave you behind if you don't."

* * *

_**A/N:**__ I swear to you that Julia was drunk when she was telling Lavi all those stupid things. She just has a teensy crush on him right now and she's not bold enough to admit that when she's sober. She just acts really silly when she's had too much alcohol. Also, she's nineteen, so she's not some little girl going out and getting drunk off her butt. And I would like to take the time to point out that she is not bipolar. She just realized Monica would be the snot out of her if she'd seen how she was acting. _

_((And Lavi seriously just wanted Julia to leave him alone and he realized the easiest way for that to happen was for him to do what she wanted.))  
_


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer- **_I do not own D. Gray-Man or any of the characters from the series and will never claim them as my own._

**Note: **_Chapters with 'Lavi' beside the number mean it's in Lavi's P.O.V. _

* * *

That jerk only came with us to check out girls. The moment Lenalee and I stepped into a flower shop, he was in his own little world, going gaga over any pretty lady that dared to walk by him. We should have left him behind when we had the chance. It would have been less of a hassle than trying to find him every other minute. Which is exactly what we had to do every time we turned our backs.

"Stri-geck!"

A very confused Lavi stared back at me when I refused to let go of the collar of his shirt. I wasn't about to let him run off like that. After all, he did say he'd come with Lenalee and me, even if it was an excuse to go skirt chasing. And so, he was going to come along whether he really wanted to or not.

"Hospital's the other way." I said, pointed with my free hand.

Lavi looked back at the girl he'd had his eyes on before turning to me again. Defeated, he pulled my hand from his shirt and followed silently after. He was just going to flirt with the nurses once we got there, but it'd be easier to keep track of him. I was still trying to figure out how I thought someone like him was actually likeable. Before was just me being really confused because my sister was in the hospital and she was hurt and I had no idea what to do. Now that my head was actually clear, I knew I was just being stupid and using the red-headed fool as a sort of distraction to hold myself together.

"You should probably tell your friends that we're leaving in the morning." Lavi said suddenly. "It might be the last time you'll ever see them."

"How very cynical of you, Lavi." I replied.

He didn't respond. I couldn't deny that what he was saying might be true, though. I was going off to fight in a war that could very well kill me. Fighting against people could get you killed, but fighting against some freaky looking monster seemed like suicide. And it was all for a bunch of people I didn't really care about. I still don't know why I even agreed to this.

* * *

The trip to the hospital was brief. The area that had been damaged was closed off and we had to go through another entrance just to get inside. Monica was a sleep when we got to her room, so I asked one of the nurses to tell her I had stopped by when she woke up. I left the flowers and a card with her and then we left. I probably should have actually gone into the room to see my sister rather than just leave, but I had a feeling I wouldn't have wanted to even leave the country if I had.

On the way home, Lavi and Lenalee agreed to let me go tell Cathy and Vincent I would be leaving. As expected, Cathy got really upset and started crying. I had to keep telling myself that this was for the better and that leaving here would keep them safe. But I knew, somewhere in my heart, that it wouldn't matter where I went. They'd still be in danger no matter what I did. That is, unless we could get rid of the source of danger once and for all.

Before long, I was on my way back to the inn with the thought of my friends seeing me off in the morning still fresh in my mind. I'd never left the country before, let alone my own hometown. It made me excited and nervous at the same time. I really didn't know what to expect. Especially since I'd be on a train for the first time in my life, which was sort of terrifying.

"Are you alright, Miss Julia?" Lenalee asked.

"Yeah." I replied, waving her off. "I've just never been on a train before. Or even out of the country. I'm kind of nervous."

"Oh!" She replied, seeming somewhat surprised. "Don't worry. It's really not that bad."

"I'll take your word for it." I laughed. "Hope you aren't lying to me."

Lavi's silence bothered me somewhat as I looked over at the tall red-head. He'd shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked, but he didn't really look all that upset. And I found myself wondering why it even mattered if he was upset or not. It's not like he was my friend or anything.

"You should probably just forget about your friends." He said suddenly.

"Lavi!" Lenalee snapped.

"What?" Lavi growled. "It's not like she'll see them again after tomorrow! They'll eventually forget about her, anyway!"

"You don't even know them!" I hissed, cutting Lenalee off before she even got a chance to respond. "The three of us have been friends since we were children. What makes you, an outsider who knows nothing about these people, think they would just forget about me that easily?!"

There was no response. Lavi stormed off ahead of Lenalee and I and it was a good thing, too. Any longer and I would have hit him so hard that he wouldn't even remember who he was. How dare he act like that! That little bastard!

I wanted to scream a string of curses, but I'd already caused enough of a scene outdoors and didn't want to upset the crowd anymore than I already had. With a stamp of my foot and a huff of my breath, I made my way home, Lenalee right behind me. I wasn't going to let him get away with insulting my friends like that. I was going to make his life hell every chance I got until he came begging on his knees for me to stop. And what a wonderful day that would be.

The rest of that evening had been pretty quiet and I spent some time after dinner to pack my stuff so that I could leave in the morning. I didn't have to worry about the inn because it was in great hands until Monica was released from the hospital. It was a little upsetting that I wouldn't be here when she returned, but this is what she wanted me to do. I thought about all of these things as I slowly drifted off to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, I was going to have the adventure of a lifetime and I'd be just like the heroes in those silly little fairytales we used to be told.

And what silly heroes those people were…

* * *

Morning came quicker than I'd expected and I was woken up by the sound of knocking on my bedroom door. I rolled over to see Lenalee standing there with a smile on her face. I hoped she wasn't expecting me to leave without at least one cup of coffee. I'd end up falling asleep while walking if she did.

"Coffee…" I moaned, slowly making myself sit up. "You'll have to let me have a cup before we go anywhere."

"I made some earlier while you were still asleep." She said, her smile never fading.

"Oh! Thank you."

She nodded before leaving the room. I hadn't expected that, but she really was a very nice girl. So maybe I should have expected it. I yawned before finally slipping on the clothes I'd left out the night before. I quickly made my bed and took one last look around my room before grabbing my bag and leaving it for what I guessed might be the last time.

I didn't really know if I would ever be coming home after this. I know I'd had this thought many, many times already, but it was honestly the first times it actually stuck to me.

_I might not ever come home._

I laughed the thought off and headed down for that one cup of coffee I really needed. I took the time to take in my surroundings, probably in more detail than I had in my entire life. There were shelves with my mother's knick-knacks and then there was that old bookcase my father had made when Monica and I were younger. The only books in it were ones that I'd never bothered picking up. I knew none of them contained information that would be of any use to me.

My eyes caught on a portrait hanging from the wall in our living room, which also doubled as the front "lobby". I'd avoided looking at it in so long for reasons unknown. It was the only portrait that was ever painted of our family and it was done when I was still a baby. My mom and dad were dressed nicely, side-by-side, as my mother held me in her arms. Monica was placed just in off to the side in front of my father, his hand on her shoulder.

Just seeing that painting there, and actually noticing it, made me drop my bag. It had just been Monica and me for the longest time, living our lives happily as we could. And, just like my parents before me, I was about to disappear from my older sister's life. Whether I would ever return or not was completely unknown. Maybe vanishing was just the way of this family.

"Miss Julia?"

I looked down to see Allen picking up my bag, the concern showing in his face. I smiled at him before taking my bag back and setting if in one of the armchairs. I'd come back and get it in a minute, after I'd woken myself up a little more. But, of course, on my way into the kitchen was no different than from coming down the stairs. I allowed my eyes to wander of every last inch of everything I saw, wanting to memorize each and every tiny detail as if my life depended on it.

I felt like I was acting like this was my very last day alive and that I wanted to go with memories of what was this "happy" life of mine. It could very well _be_ my last day if I did something stupid. But, in my mind, what I was doing qualified as the stupidest thing any living being could possibly do. And I was only doing it because Monica said so. I would do anything Monica said, wouldn't I?

The thought made me laugh to myself as I poured a cup of coffee. Maybe all this was for the best. My sister didn't make decisions that she knew would do more harm than good, so surely there was something for me to get out of all of this. Whatever it was, I wasn't following along with it very well. If I didn't know any better, I'd just say she was sending me to my death because she wanted to get rid of me, but that wasn't how she worked.

And, before long, I'd already gone through two cups of coffee and was awake enough to function. Now it really was time to go and I had one last chance to look around this tiny little inn, the place I called home, before going out the front door for, quite possibly, the very last time. What a stupid reoccurring thought that was! "The very last time" was such a stupid thing to say. And it was all that damned Lavi's fault for putting those words into my head.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Allen asked as I locked the door behind me.

"No." I replied. "But I don't think there will ever be a time when I can honestly say that I am ready to leave home."

He nodded and the walk to the train station began. It really wasn't super far from my house, but it was far enough that I could take one last look at several of the shops and other homes in the area as we made our way there. I noticed things I don't think I'd ever noticed before, like how the sign hanging over the shoe shop was crooked or like how nice the bread from the bakery smelled when you walked by. But those were just silly things to notice. They would be nice things to remember, though.

* * *

I was moments from stepping onto the train when a familiar blonde came crashing through a crowd of people hollering my name as loud as she could. In her hands was a small cage with what appeared to be a fluffy animal. When she got to me, she was gasping for air and shoving the cage into my arms. I nearly dropped my bag as I tried to keep the cage from falling. When I actually got a look at the animal, I realized it was that rabbit Cathy had tried giving me some time ago.

I looked up at her, surprised that it was still alive and surprised even more by the fact that she had run all the way here just to give it to me. I was at a loss for words and could only smile at her. I didn't really think taking the rabbit with me would be a really good idea, though. There was no telling what could happen to it and I would hate to see such a cute animal in danger. _Again._

"Please take her with you." Cathy pleaded. "So you don't forget us."

"I-I won't forget you guys." I replied in shock. "Ever!"

I felt a tug on my sleeve and looked to see Allen trying to get me on the train. It was about to leave and he don't need me getting left behind. I took one last look at the little blonde girl before getting on the train, new companion and all. My last day in my beloved hometown and I was taking a rabbit with me to who knows where. This certainly was going to be an adventure.

"I'll miss you!" I heard Cathy scream as the train started moving. She ran with the train as far as she could until it pulled out of the station. I could still see her waving as we got farther and farther away and I almost wanted to turn back, to be able to go back and stay there with her, but this is what I chose to do. Going with these people is what I said I'd do. For Monica.

* * *

_**A/N: **__And we're at the end of yet another chapter. One in which we get no interaction with Kanda. I apologize for that, but I'm afraid to write for him as he'd be the one character I would have problems with. Maybe later on I'll try and add him in or something. Anyway, hope you've enjoyed reading so far and I'm sorry for the long wait for an update._


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer- **_I do not own D. Gray-Man or any of the characters from the series and will never claim them as my own._

**Note: **_Chapters with 'Lavi' beside the number mean it's in Lavi's P.O.V. _

* * *

"Are you alright? You look a little pale."

I turned to look at Lavi, who was seated next to me. I don't know why it mattered to him if I wasn't feeling well because there wasn't a thing he could do to fix it. I'd never been on a train before and it was a little unnerving to look out the window and see how fast it was going. The only thoughts that kept going through my mind were "what if's". It wasn't a very pleasant feeling to have and I really couldn't do a thing to take my mind off of all this.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked. "I've never been better."

This response prompted looks of concern from both Allen and Lenalee, who were seated across from me. I wasn't fooling anyone with an answer like that. I just didn't want to admit that I was a little scared right now. I mean, who in their right mind would be afraid of a train? Even people like these guys would laugh if I told them that.

"Miss Julia…" Lenalee said, almost as if she were sighing or something.

"Look, look!" I said as I pointed out the window. "It's really pretty, you know? I mean, back home was pretty, but this is new. It's different! I-!"

I was cut off by Lenalee leaning over and grabbing my hand. She was seriously worried about me, wasn't she? I still didn't see why they bothered like this. None of them actually knew me well enough that they should care. Just a few weeks doesn't mean that we were friends or anything, so I didn't know why she tried so hard.

This all felt so wrong to me. I felt like I should be back home waiting for Monica to recover, but here I was with these strange people. This is what she wanted me to do, though, and it was rare that I'd ever go against what she said. My sister was my most important person, so I tried really hard to not upset her, though I often ended up disappointing her without meaning to.

I jerked my hand back away from Lenalee's. I didn't need her to comfort me. I don't know why she even insisted. My problems have nothing to do with her, so she could just butt out. She frowned at me before sitting back in her seat, which made me feel a little guilty because I was being kind of harsh.

_Ugh! Damn it! Why the hell do you even care that you upset her?! She doesn't matter! She's just some girl, so stop feeling so guilty!_

"Don't worry about me." I said, looking down at the cage in my lap. "It's not something that should even matter to you."

"Don't you think you're being a little cold?" Lavi asked.

"No, I don't!" I replied. "How I'm feeling shouldn't concern any of you! You aren't even my friends, so why do you insist on caring so much? I'm only here right now because this is what Monica wanted me to do. If it weren't for her…!"

Lenalee looked away from me before getting up and walking off, Allen following behind her like a little puppy. Unfortunately, it didn't look like Lavi was going to go away just like that. I refused to even look him in the eye, instead focusing only on the little rabbit that Cathy had given me. It was such a cute rabbit, far cuter than the idiot sitting beside me. If he'd just leave me be, too, things would be a bit better.

"You're so selfish." Lavi said, almost like he was trying to provoke me. "The only things you think about are yourself and your sister. And _maybe_ your so called 'friends'."

"Who are you to judge me?!" I spat, gripping the cage in my hands. "I don't see why-!"

"You'll be killed if you keep acting like this. It doesn't matter much to me, really, because you're just another face. I feel sorry for your sister."

He got up, then, and went of in the same direction Allen and Lenalee had before. I had to admit that his words shook me a little bit. How could they not? They were really harsh. He was such an awful type of guy.

_If I keep acting like this, huh? Maybe…. Maybe you've got a point, you stupid bastard._

"Hey, you, little rabbit."

I felt silly talking to the rabbit just then, but she was my only company at the moment. Even if she couldn't understand me, I could at least talk to her. That would be fine, wouldn't it? Unless she also hated me, then I'd be sad. She was such a cute little rabbit and Cathy wanted me to keep her as a pet.

"You don't hate me, too, do you?" I asked, sticking a finger into the cage to try and pet her.

She bit me almost instantly and I winced, trying not to scream. Such a clear answer from a pet I've only had for a few hours. Her decision seemed a little harsh, though. Maybe I really wasn't a very good person if even a rabbit hated me enough to bite me like that. I sighed and laid my head down on the top of the cage as soon as I got my finger back.

"What am I supposed to do now, little rabbit?" I mumbled. "Clearly you don't like me, so how can I keep you as a pet? I could probably sell you or just give you away, but Cathy would be hurt if she ever found out. I think I'll figure things out later, though. I feel like a nap would be the best thing for me at the moment."

* * *

I didn't really expect to wake up on someone's back and I was really confused at first. I had no idea where I was or even when it was that I got off the train. I almost thought I was dreaming for a second, but this was way too real. I could the warmth of skin and even smell whoever was carrying me. I really didn't have to open my eyes to figure out who it was because he'd carried me before and I found it kind of hard to forget the way the smelled.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"So you're finally awake." Lavi replied. "Does that mean I can put you down now?"

"I don't feel like walking." I mumbled. "You can just continue carrying me until you pass out from exhaustion. And you never answered my question."

"We're in London." He said. "And I'm not going to carry you for that long."

"London?" I asked. "Really? We're in London?"

"I'm going to drop you now."

Even though he said he was going to drop me, he did the opposite and allowed me to get off. It was then that I actually noticed my finger was wrapped in a bandage. I looked at Lavi for a moment before laughing off the thought that he was the one who did it. He wouldn't do something like. For me, anyway…

"Who did this?" I asked, wiggling my finger a bit.

"Lenalee." He answered, shoving his hands into his pocket. "She's the one who made me carry you."

"So where is she?"

"She went with Allen to get a room to stay in for the night."

He stopped walking then and looked up for a minute. I stared at him before trying to see what it was that he was looking at. There was a large clock tower just a little ways off from where we were standing. The large hand looked like it was almost at the hour when some bells started to chime. When the large hand landed on the hour, a louder bell began to toll.

Lavi and I stood there in silence for several moments before he kicked his foot at mine to get my attention. I frowned up at him before he waved his arm off in some vague direction as if to say that he wanted me to follow. Without even so much as a word, he began walking seeming to not care whether I actually followed or not. Not wanting to be left behind in such a large city, I quickly followed after him.

"Where's my stuff?" I asked, looking around me at everything I possibly could.

"They have everything with them." He replied, seeming to become kind of annoyed.

"I see…"

The rest of the time was spent in silence. I was afraid Lavi would snap at me if I said anything else to him than I already had. I'd made him mad on the train and surely he hadn't forgiven me that easily. After all, he'd said Lenalee was the one who made him carry me. I sighed, remembering exactly what had happened before.

If Monica had seen that, she'd be really disappointed in me. So much so that I'd have to lock myself in my room until I could make myself face her again. She would never act like that toward anyone and she'd apologize even if she did. She'd have me apologize, too, wouldn't she?

_It won't kill you to say 'sorry'…_

I sighed again. I wasn't going to get very far if I didn't try and trust these guys and be friends with them. I wanted to be able to go home after all of this was over. I wanted to be able to see my friends and my sister again and I couldn't if I kept acting like I was. This was so hard to deal with.

Lavi stopped suddenly, again, and I walked right into him. I stumbled back before finally regaining my balance and looking to see why he'd stopped. We were standing right outside an inn at the moment. It was nothing like the one Monica and I owned.

"Be careful."

I frowned at Lavi. He was the one who stopped without warning. I should have been saying that to him. Not the other way around. What an annoying jerk!

"Jerk…" I mumbled and we entered the inn.

Lenalee was just coming down some stairs when she saw us. She smiled and waved and I looked away. She continued to be so friendly to me even after I was rude to her. It made me feel miserable and guilty and all gross inside. I couldn't face her feeling like this.

I couldn't apologize to her like this. Surely she'd be nice enough to accept it, but who would I be kidding if I tried to pass if off as sincere? I wanted to be sorry for how I treated her, but she was being so nice. Far too nice and she didn't even know me well enough. People could be so, so very stupid and nice and just… just stupid!

I turned to run, to get out into the street and away from these people. I had nowhere to go, but I could figure something out eventually. Anything was better than this, better than letting someone see me crying over something so stupid! Something caught my arm before I got out the door and I whorled around with my arm swung out only to make contact the Lavi's face with my hand. The two of us stood there in silence, staring at each other for the longest time, until he released my arm.

"Go ahead." He said, daring me to move. "Run away again! You seem to like doing that a lot."

"Lavi!" Lenalee snapped before brushing passed him toward me.

I took a step back; I didn't want her coming near me. I was pathetic, not worthy of her kindness at all. My gaze flickered to Lavi for a brief second when he walked off up the stairs, but it went right back to Lenalee, who had extended a hand toward me. I stared at it before looking at my own. I didn't hate her, and it's not that I couldn't trust her; I just couldn't make myself accept this simple gesture.

"Miss Julia…" She said with a smile.

"I-I…" I stuttered, letting my hand fall back to my side. "Sorry… I-!"

I took another step back before turning and running. She didn't even try and stop me, letting me run as far and as fast as I wanted to. It was such a cowardly thing to do, but I couldn't do it. So I just ran and ran until I was out of breath and about to collapse. When I finally looked to see where I was, there was that clock tower from before.

I stared up at it in awe as I dropped to my knees; it was so large and beautiful. It was enough to make me feel slightly insignificant. It was a strange feeling to have, to feel almost like you were nothing compared to a clock tower. Even if it wasn't living, it was still helpful. Every time the bell tolled, you knew it was a little later.

"How silly..." I laughed in between breaths. "That I… could feel like this… because of a… clock."

I ran my hand through my hair, staring at it when I finally dropped it down to the ground again. There was the bandage Lenalee had wrapped it in. There was the kindness she showed to someone who seemed to only want to reject it constantly. For someone to be like that, it was almost ridiculous. She was so sweet to me and I was so harsh.

_Damn it! I'm so pathetic! Get up and go back! Go back to them!_

"Damn it!" I shrieked, slamming my arm against the ground.

I sat there in my self-pitying heap for who knows how long before the constant whispering and concern from passersby drove me to get back on my feet. I felt stupid for acting like this in public and it was none of their business whether I was alright or not. I would have been better locking myself in a room so that these people couldn't judge me. They didn't know me, so they had no right.

'_What's wrong with her?'_

'_Maybe she's drunk.'_

'_How indecent!'_

To all of them, I was nothing more than a manner less child, or possibly out of my mind. Maybe it was the latter that was the ultimate truth. I could have lost it. Something like that wouldn't even come as a surprise to my. I don't ever recall having very many rational thoughts.

But then I'd be just like that woman. Weak and stupid. Willing to run away and leave everything behind just to escape all her troubles. What a cowardly woman. And yet I wanted to laugh at how much that sounded like me.

"Miss Julia!"

It was Allen and Lenalee. They didn't have to come for me, but they did anyway. What silly people they were. I thought then that maybe, just maybe, I could get used to them. And I started crying again because I didn't believe I deserved to be around people like this with my attitude the way it was.

"Sorry!" I cried. "I'm so sorry!"

* * *

**A/N: **_Hope I didn't keep you guys waiting too long. I wasn't feeling very inspired to write for the longest time. In fact, this chapter took a few months to write on-and-off. I actually forced myself to sit down and finish it today so that you could at least get an update. Even though I had to take this chapter down to add more once._

_Sorry if anything doesn't seem to fit quite right with the time period. I spent hours looking up stuff on different websites to see what trains were running when and all that good stuff about Big Ben and stuff. Sorry if any of it is inaccurate. I don't live in the U.K. and have never been to visit, so all I have to go on is information online and stuff._


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer- **_I do not own D. Gray-Man or any of the characters from the series and will never claim them as my own._

**A/N: **_Due to my new fanfic, I've decided all author's notes with be placed at the top. Now then, I apologize for taking so long to update again. School has kept me busy as it was my last year and I wanedt to graduate. I would also like to apologize for the fact that this chapter takes place after a time skip mainly due to the fact that I had no idea where I was going in the last chapter. Please enjoy~_

_Also, there's going to be a part in the very beginning that makes little sense at all. Please just roll with it. _

**Note: **_Chapters with 'Lavi' beside the number mean it's in Lavi's P.O.V._

_

* * *

_

I wasn't sure how much time I'd actually spent with these guys after that time in London. All I knew is that I'd come to realize that I did need them and that I actually did care. It took me a while to call them "friends", but I finally did it and it made me feel better. There was a little while that I actually didn't get to see them, but that was just so I could train so that I could go with them on their missions. Here I was on one now and I was extremely nervous.

Any number of things could happen, but it was best not to think of those things. I needed to focus on making sure I could do everything that I possibly could to help. My innocence worked mostly as a sort of defense and support, so it's not like I could actually sit there and fight. If you asked me how I felt about it, I'd tell you that it was a little annoying, but I suppose it kind of compliments me well seeing as I'm a very offensive person. You take what you get, I suppose.

So here we were, fighting this giant beast of an akuma and I really should have paid more attention because it had this large tail that it liked to swing around. I guess my judgment on the distance between its tail and me was a little off because its tail came flying at me without warning. I heard Lenalee scream at me to 'look out', but I couldn't react fast enough and took a hard blow to my side. I got thrown onto my side and nearly fell off the edge of a cliff a little ways from everyone. I was in a lot of pain and it felt like I'd broken a rib or two as I rolled onto my back.

I had just managed to get to my feet when Lenalee came crashing into me. I stumbled back, trying to keep myself from falling, but my foot hit a soft spot in the rocks and we both slipped. I threw my arms around her. It didn't seem like much, but I was hoping that I could take most of the damage for her. She had done so much for me since we met that I felt like she at least deserved this as payment for how much shit I had put her through.

I looked over my shoulder at tops of the trees we were seconds from hitting and held my breath. I knew it wouldn't do much for me. It was a few seconds too late when I realized I could make a shield around us. It took my leg slamming into a tree branch to get me to react, even if it was only a matter of seconds before we hit the ground.

* * *

"-lia! Julia, wake up!

I winced in pain as Lenalee shook me to wake me up. It was my ribs and my leg, or that's where I felt the most pain. All I knew was that I was in an extreme amount of pain. It was enough to make me cry and I really hated crying. I looked at Lenalee, who looked horrified.

"What does my leg… ngh… look like?" I asked through a hiss of pain. "I don't… want to… look."

"I can't tell." She answered.

"My left leg…" I paused and took a deep breath. "Look at it! Take my… boot off and pull up… nrgh… pull up my pant leg, okay?"

"But-!"

"Just do it, Lenalee!"

The both of us went silent for a little bit after that. The moment she touched my leg, I knew the pain was going to get even worse, but it had to be done. After a long pause, she finally reached for my boot and carefully began to unlace it, jumping slightly every time I groaned or hissed in pain. The moment she got it completely unlaced, she gently pulled the boot off my foot. I half expected her to shriek when she actually saw my leg, but I guess it hurt a hell of a lot more than it actually looked.

"Well?" I asked, trying to judge how bad it was by the look on her face.

"It's bruised." She replied. "I don't think it's broken, though. Your boots are really thick, so I think they worked as padding. Do you want to see if you can walk on it?"

"Not really, no." I replied, laughing nervously. "But we're sitting ducks if we stay here like this. Help me, okay?"

"Okay." She said as she helped me sit up. "I hope Lavi and Allen are alright."

I smiled at her as I carefully put my boot back on. It hurt like hell, but I wasn't going to go hobbling around in the woods with one shoe on and one shoe off. Especially since the foot that would have a shoe was already hurt.

"Those two're fine." I said, trying to reassure her. "They handle themselves pretty well, so don't go getting all worried about 'em, okay? We should be focusing on finding a way out of here and to somewhere self. Help me up, would you?"

She nodded and pulled me to my feet before pulling my arm over her shoulder. The thought that moving was a stupid idea crossed my mind briefly before we started moving, but it was harder to hit a moving target than it was to hit one that was stationary. If the enemy had followed us, though I highly doubted it did, we would be better off moving and making it harder to find us. On the other hand, it also meant we'd be harder to find for Allen and Lavi, too, but that was a risk we were willing to take.

"Your innocence…" Lenalee said suddenly, nodding to the bracelet on my wrist. "That bell could work as a signal, too, right?"

"Wouldn't that mean alerting potential enemies to our location, as well?" I asked.

"Yes," She paused for a moment, like she was trying to think. "But it's still a weapon and, if it's activated, it will stun the akuma once they come within a certain distance of us. Isn't that right?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Then why haven't you activated it yet?"

I didn't know how to respond to her question. I felt slightly embarrassed for not realizing that before, but this whole thing with innocence and the abilities and stuff that came with it were still all pretty new to me. I was more used to fighting with my fists than relying on something else to help me out.

"Don't know why I didn't think of it first."


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer- **_I do not own D. Gray-Man or any of the characters from the series and will never claim them as my own._

**A/N: **_My chapters appear to be getting shorter. My bad. Actually, it's because I'm writing with Writer's Block and that's never a wise idea. Sorry for keeping you guys waiting so long for updates, though. Here's chapter thirteen for everyone. C:_

_By the way, don't eat my face for how OOC everyone is. They were already pretty bad before, it's just worse now since things have gotten pretty chaotic in the manga and it's way past the point where this fanfic actually takes place. Less exposure to certain characters means a lack of ability to write for them, so please bear with me and don't flame me if something is wrong. CCC:_

**Note: **_Chapters with 'Lavi' beside the number mean it's in Lavi's P.O.V. Conversely__, __chapters with no name beside the number are from Julia's P.O.V. _

_

* * *

_

We had been walking for who knows how long listening to nothing but the sound of the bell on my bracelet. Neither of us had thought to say anything to the other because it didn't really seem necessary, but maybe that was just what I made of the situation. All I knew was that I was starting to feel really weak and didn't know how much longer I could keep my innocence activated without incident.

"Lenalee," I said suddenly, breaking a long silence between the two of us. "I don't know how much longer I can do this. I'm starting to get tired."

Lenalee stopped walking then, causing me to have to come to a stop, as well. I was kind of surprised she hadn't been the one to ask to stop since I knew she was holding up quite a bit of my weight and I wasn't exactly a very thin girl. I suppose that meant that she was stronger than she looked. Either way, that wasn't what I should have been focusing on.

"I think I see a clearing just up ahead." She said, smiling at me. "I think we'll be fine if you deactivate your innocence now. Allen probably has a good idea where we are by now."

"Right."

The moment that bell stopped ringing, everything sounded so different. We could actually hear what was going on around us, unlike before where it was just the bell. However, part of my found this fact to be extremely unsettling. I had no doubt in my mind that it was because, once the bell stopped ringing, any akuma that might have actually been here could move and could attack us. With Lenalee being the only one out of the two of us who could actually fight, that left us at a very bad disadvantage.

"We'll be alright." Lenalee reassured me as we started for the clearing. "Allen will find us before anything else does."

There was something about how she said that that made me feel like even she wasn't so sure about what was going to happen. She put so much faith in her friends, but even she had her moments where she didn't know if her faith in them was going to be enough to pull her through. All either of us could do was hope that we were found by allies first.

" I believe you." I said, just to make her feel a little better.

We slowly moved forward toward what we hoped was a clearing. For the longest time, there was a sound of rushing water getting closer, so we had no idea what to expect when we finally got out of the forest. The closer we got to the exit, however, the more nervous I became. And, the more nervous I became, the more I thought I heard something following us. Of course, I could have just been hearing Allen or Lavi, but they would have called our names, right?

"What's wrong?" Lenalee asked, finally catching my nervousness.

"Do you hear that?" I asked, looking over my shoulder.

"Hear… what?" She paused and tried to listen for what I was hearing, but shook her head when she couldn't figure it out.

"Nevermind." I said, taking one last nervous glance over my shoulder. "I thought I heard something, but I guess my mind is just playing tricks on me now. Forget about it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

We finally made it out into the clearing only to discover a large waterfall and a river leading off to who knows where. It wasn't much, but it actually gave us a vague idea of where we were now. I looked around to see if there was anywhere we could go to climb up. We were somewhere near the village we had come to investigate because I remember seeing the waterfall on our way. I looked at Lenalee with a big toothy grin and she shook her head.

"I know where we are." I said with a sigh of relief. "If we could somehow get up there, we coul-!"

"Allen and Lavi are probably looking everywhere for us right now." She said, cutting into my joy just a little bit. "If we did somehow make it back up there, and I really don't think we could with you not being able to walk, then they would be in the middle of a pointless search."

I'd actually forgotten all about Lavi and Allen there for a little while. I was more concerned about my own safety, as well as Lenalee's. Those two hadn't even crossed my mind. Even so, they would probably want us to be somewhere safe like the village than out in the middle of nowhere where we could get attacked at any second. They would forgive us for leading them on a wild goose chase if they knew we were safe in the end.

"I'm sure they'd want us to be safe, though." I said, matter-of-factly. "And, if being safe meant leading them all over the place, I think that's something they'd forgive us for."

"But what if they got hurt while looking for us?" She asked.

"They're fully capable of handling themselves." I replied, pulling away from her. "I think you should worry more about your own safety than them right now, anyway."

"She has a point, you know."

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of someone else's voice. That survival instinct that told you to run when you were in danger kicked in in an instant, but I wasn't going anywhere except for to the ground. Or, at least, that's what I thought was going to happen, but something caught hold of my arm and kept me from falling.

"Calm down." Lavi hissed, grabbing my other arm to keep me from hitting him. "It's just us."

"S-Sorry." I said as he helped me gain back what little balance I had left.

"Why are you standing like that?" He asked, nodding to my hurt leg.

"I can't walk on it, stupid!" I snapped before quickly trying to regain my composure. "So, was that you two I heard rustling around back there earlier?"

"Yeah," Allen piped in. "Sorry. We didn't mean to scare you like that."

"Why didn't you call our names?"

I looked over at Lenalee and a chill ran down my spine. I really wished she hadn't asked that question because it made me take another good look at "Lavi" and "Allen". Sure enough, they had some scary-ass grins on their faces and it was pretty obvious we'd been tricked.

"Clever girl."

There was no time to react. Even if there had been, it wouldn't have mattered. The enemy was faster and moved in the blink of an eye. In an instant, I was gasping for air after being slammed into a tree.


End file.
